Catholic Ceremony-destination

Personally, I've never heard of a Catholic priest who will perform a wedding outside of the church!

That's not the way the Catholic church works. Unless you receive approval from your bishop, you must be married in a Catholic church. And most churches require that you be a member or have a good reason for why you want your wedding at that church.

Catholic wedding and destination wedding don't go together.

It's a restriction of the church, not the location. In order to marry outside you would need the approval of the local bishop, which is not common. You would also have to go through pre Cana and marriage prep through your own parish, who will then give permission for you to marry at a different church. I don't know how that would work with a different country. I know a lot of couples who do DW's get married here first so that its legal and then do a mock ceremony later before their receptions. I would start with your priest and go from there under his direction.

You have to get married in a Church for it to be recognized by the Catholic Church and go through pre-Cana as others have mentioned.

Thanks ladies.
The plan is to be legally married in my state and have the ceremony at a destination. The church DOES allow outside ceremonies but needs to be in a gazebo.

Unfortunately, as far as I know you would have to get permission from the bishop to have a catholic ceremony outside the church. BUT, the good news is you can still have a catholic DW, the ceremony would just have to be in a church. I would start with finding a church in Punta Cana and call to find out if they do DW's and available dates. Then you should be able to do your pre marital course with your local priest and let him know you're doing a DW. He will just have to communicate with the other church to get all the necessary paperwork ready. And then you can keep the tradition of a catholic ceremony but still have your reception at the resort you fell in love with. Me and my fiance live in Ohio and are having our catholic DW in FL. Everything went fine with the church, people do it all the time. Just because you want to keep your religon a part of your wedding doesn't mean you have to give up your dream DW. Good luck to you! 😊

There are only 3 resorts with chapels in their resorts in DR: Barcelo Bavaro, Majestic, and Casa de Campo. Some resorts allow catholic weddings in their garden gazebos. You will not find any resort in DR that will permit a catholic wedding on the beach since that is prohibited by the Diocese there.

I will also be having a Catholic wedding in DR (Garden Gazebo). Please let me know how your planning is going and perhaps we can share findings and things to watch out for?!


Also... you might want to check out this link....

https://thecatholictravelguide.com/trip-planner/catholic-destination-weddings/

Ps... Are you doing a civil wedding first and then the catholic wedding in DR? My wedding is Aug 2019 and am also trying to figure out how to make a Catholic DW in Punta Cana work!