Purposes of Documents for Church Wedding (Part 2)

(Source: From the Eastern Front)

 In the first part of this article I talked about the importance of baptism and confirmation (kumpil) and why these are required for a church wedding. Now, I’ll be talking about the importance of other documents, namely, wedding banns certificates, parish priest’s permission for the bride, and certificate for attending a pre-Cana seminar.

Wedding Bann Certificates

Being true to marriage vows is the great desire of the Church when it comes to Catholic marriages. Thus, the Church requires that the upcoming marriage is announced in the parish church of the bride and the groom. Through the wedding bann, people who have knowledge of impediment to the upcoming wedding may inform the Church and stop the wedding from happening.

I paid 500 pesos for my wedding bann while Lei paid 300 pesos that includes the parish priest’s permission.

Parish Priest’s Permission for the Bride

Based on what I read from the University of Notre Dame Campus Ministry website, weddings traditionally takes place in the parish church of the bride. As courtesy, our church required us to submit a permission letter from the priest in the parish where Lei reside.

Certificate of Attendance for Pre-Cana Seminar

It is the duty of the Church to teach her flock of the truth. It is also her duty to teach soon-to-be-married couples about the will of God when it comes to marriage. We spent a whole afternoon attending the pre-Cana seminar. There are lectures that are enlightening but it was disappointing because most of the lecturers didn’t go deep and just talked about their experiences in their marriages.

We didn’t pay anything for the pre-Cana seminar because it is an initiative of the Couple for Christ (CFC) group of the parish church where we had our wedding.

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It is very easy to get lost during wedding preparations but there are requirements that are more important than others. For soon-to-be-wed couples, I suggest that you allot time for acquiring these church requirements. Ignoring these requirements might prevent your dream wedding from happening.
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