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Planning Your Wedding

Required Documents

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It may take a few weeks or even months to acquire these, which makes planning ahead a good idea. Each local parish or diocese follows certain customs, and your priest will tell you exactly which documents are absolutely required. Here is a list of the most commonly needed documents:

  1. Baptismal certificates of both parties (even non-Catholics) issued for marriage purposes and dates no earlier than six months prior to the wedding. (If these are absolutely not available, do to a fire or other viable reason, a sworn statement may suffice.)
  2. Marriage license from the civil registrar's office, which includes the application of the two parties. This is obtainable from your local government, look in the telephone book under "marriage licenses."
  3. Letter of freedom of pastors and parents.
  4. Permission of parents is a party is under eighteen years of age.
  5. Certificate of Attendance at a Marriage Preparation course. (Several are available.)
  6. For widows and widowers, an authentic certificate of death of their departed spouses with whom they were married and a marriage certificate of the previous wedding.
  7. Declaration of Nullity, if previously married.