• Life, Marriage & Family

We, the Catholic Church of the Diocese of Belleville, offer you warm and heartfelt congratulations on your engagement! This is a wonderful and exciting time for you as you plan for your new life together. It can often be scary and overwhelming as you begin to look at all the preparation that goes into planning your wedding day. This guide, Your Wedding in the Catholic Church, is designed to assist you as you prepare to celebrate your marriage in the context of the Christian community. It is our hope that you will take the time to talk and pray together as you read and reflect on the material presented here.

Because Christian Marriage is a sacrament, the Catholic Church wants couples to be well-prepared. Parishes offer marriage preparation to help couples develop a better understanding of the sacrament; to evaluate and deepen their readiness to live married life; and to gain insights into themselves as individuals and as a couple.

The important thing for engaged couples to keep in mind as they check off numerous items on their pre-wedding "to-do" list is the well-known adage, "Your wedding lasts a day, but your marriage lasts a lifetime." The Church encourages couples to invest time and energy into the all-important work of preparing for their married life together.

For couples planning to marry in the Catholic Church, please contact your parish priest six to nine months before your anticipated wedding date to begin the marriage preparation process. 

If you are involved in marriage preparation in your parish, and need to facilitate the marriage inventory but haven’t had the training, click here to sign up for Prepare/Enrich Marriage Inventory Facilitator Training. 

Videos on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony 

Pope Francis: Marriage is too important to rush

Why get married in the Catholic Church?

What happens at a Catholic wedding?

Marriage: Made for Life

The Family: Like a Cathedral