Catholic & Jewish Marriage Ceremony

I am catholic and am getting married at our venue outdoors. We’re also having a pastor do the ceremony because my FH father went to his church. Neither of us are that religion but it means a lot to my FH as his parents are no longer with us. I am religious but do not feel as if I’m doing a sin because I’m doing something that makes me and my fiancé happy. My mother is Greek Orthodox and I do plan on incorporating the crowns that is done in a Greek ceremony. It’ll be multiple religions and that’s okay because that’s who WE ARE ♥️.

View Quoted Comment Thank you Meghan!! I appreciate your comment. How did you get the Pastor to okay an outdoor wedding? Is there something you had to do?

Check with your priest. He will be able to give you guidance. Mine was willling to work with us, but we ended up just getting married in the church. I do know people that have gotten married outside who are catholic.

View Quoted Comment To be honest I’m unsure if he typically does outdoors or if he did it because he’s close to the family. I know my friend had to call around to find a priest who would marry them outside.

Hi Melissa! I am Catholic as well, husband Presbyterian, and my family ancestry is Greek Orthodox. We definitely incorporated each religion and felt like “us”, getting the best of all worlds! I have read Catholics only wed in a church to protect the bride as back in the day many men were secretly marrying several women in the woods. It was a way to keep it honest. We married under the Presbyterian pastor, which had no outdoor preference. In the current climate, hopefully priests can accommodate, but may be tricky. Even though we are not Jewish, we married under a chuppah because they are so beautiful! We did the unity candle, which is Catholic and the crowns for Greek Orthodox. Pictures attached for fun 🌸❤️🌺

Are you wanting to just have a Catholic wedding, or an interfaith wedding with both a pastor and a rabbi together? I'm Jewish and I've been to several interfaith Catholic/Jewish weddings, and they were all outdoors or at a non-religious venue. If you're planning to have an interfaith wedding then presumably the priest/pastor and the rabbi would want to work together to help the two of you make this decision. But if you want your fiance's family to be comfortable, then I would suggest not having the ceremony in a church as a compromise (unless your fiance will be converting, then that's another story).

If you want to have a priest marry you there are certain things they require, and one of them is to be married by a priest in a catholic church. Priests vary, but it will probably be hard to find one to marry you outside of a church and if you don’t agree to raise any children as Catholic.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! Pictures are beautiful!

View Quoted Comment Thank you and good luck with your wedding ❤️❤️❤️

Same situation here! Though the religious aspects were more important to our families than to us. In general, you can get dispensation from your priest to get married outside of the church. Sometimes the bishop of the region has certain rules (i.e. in our region, we had to agree to raise our children as Catholic, which we weren't willing to do so we had to back out), and you and your FH will most likely have to do pre-cana, but it otherwise shouldn't be too difficult. Just talk to your church about the process.

Another option is to use a Catholic chaplain. They tend to have more experience with interfaith couples.

Similar situation here, so I've been researching. If you get married outside of a church, it is NOT a sin. It just technically isn't considered completing the sacrament of marriage. Talk to your priest and rabbi and see what they say. If neither will budge, take comfort in this: God will never look down on you for choosing love.