Matrimony - Marriage - Weddings

MARRIAGE PREPARATION PROGRAM AND CELEBRATION OF WEDDINGS AT ALL SOULS PARISH

It takes Courage and Hope to make a life long commitment. Congratulations on your decision to strengthen your bonds of love and your intention to celebrate this covenant with God all the days of your lives. May the good Lord bless you always. Por tu Matrimonio.

Canonical Status Verification:

Sometimes our previous relationships and their histories have long lasting impacts. This is a great step to help address those elements before we embark upon new relationships. It is necessary that the couple contact their pastor and arrange for an initial interview. He will guide you through this canonical verification. The Priest will verify the canonical status of the couple and determine if an annulment or dispensation is necessary.(o matrimonios mixtos).

Date - Time - Officiant for the Wedding:

At this time, it will be necessary to suggest your proposed dates for your wedding and inquire if the priest would be willing to prepare you for the upcoming wedding and celebrate your nuptials.

This step is considered significantly important because the priest is expected to take upon himself to:

· Make arrangements with you to complete the required paper work
· Assist with the necessary documentation (Sacramental Certificates)
· Coordinate with the Marriage preparation sessions
· Coordinate with the Wedding Rehearsal coordinator and Liturgical Music.
· Complete the Marriage License.
· File and record the ceremony immediately after the celebration of your wedding with a) Civil authorities (County Clerk-Recorder's office) b) Parish marriage register c) Parish archives

After having checked his availability, which is

· his personal calendar and

· the Parish Church Calendar (where the wedding ceremony is planned to take place), it might be good

· to finalize, write in, and reserve the desired date and time of the wedding ceremony.

There is a non-refundable fee charged for the blocking of the date and time in the Parish Church Calendar.

Please keep in mind that these dates written in the Parish Church Calendar are mere dates reserved for you. Writing these dates down in the Parish Church Calendar alone, does not guarantee that your wedding ceremony will take place in this Church on that date and time.

In order that the wedding ceremony takes place on that stipulated day and at that time, couples are expected to:

· Maintain a regular contact with the Priest with a good working telephone number and or e-mail so that the Priest connected with the ceremony, can communicate effectively any related preparation information with the couple.

· Furnish the necessary documentation as per the schedule worked out with the Priest.

· Complete the required Marriage preparation process in the pre-agreed span of time discussed with the Priest.

It is always advisable to begin planning such a life changing event way in advance and completed at least within the six-month span of time. A little effort to this end can make a world of difference, and can become an enjoyable and even an enchanting time for all.

The Wedding Preparation - Foccus

· Foccus is a Pre-Marriage inventory of how one responds to certain feelings, thoughts, assumptions, actions, habits, behaviors, to situations etc.,

· Foccus has strong psychometric properties with high reliability, content, construct, and to a degree, some predictive validity.

· It is a comprehensive user friendly tool meant to help, induce, evoke, facilitate, support and sustain healthy vital communication between the couple with reference to various elements that factor in their relationship.

· It is not a test and therefore there should be no fear of failing or passing: Some sample questions.

The Priest will arrange to work on the Inventory of FOCCUS. It usually requires about an hour to answer all those questions. The answer sheets are then sent for evaluation to a Foccus trained and certified person employed in the Department of Lay Formation in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Once these answer sheets are evaluated and sent to the Parish of origin, the Priest will invite you to follow up with the next step in the preparation of your wedding. You will be expected to:

Bring in the required documents of each person getting married:

· Baptism Certificate (issued within six months of the wedding date) from the office of the Church of your Baptism.

· First Holy Communion Certificate (from the Church where it was celebrated)

· Confirmation Certificate (from the Church where it was administered)

At this time,

The couple will be required to complete form 'A': A self-witnessing Testimony Form.

and the witnesses of the couple to complete form 'B': The Witness Testimony Form.

Marriage Preparation Sessions:

After having completed the above-mentioned forms, you are required to attend the Marriage Preparation Sessions. These are great validating and nourishing opportunities offered to couples preparing to cherish the love for each other in their married life. There are two options available to complete this requirement.

1. Parish Marriage Preparation Sessions: Our Parish offers these sessions, both in English and Spanish: Por Tu Matrimonio

2. Outside Parish Weekend Sessions (These are conducted periodically in various places. The Organizers of these events charge a fee to cover the cost of the weekend stay, food, sessions etc.)

Wedding Ceremony Scripture Readings:

After the Marriage Preparation Sessions are completed, please give the Priest (working with you for your wedding ceremony) a call. This is the time to meet in order to choose the Wedding Liturgy Readings, or ceremonia Matrimonial: Lecturas Biblicas.

Decide on Date and Time-line for Items:

1. Date and time for the wedding rehearsal.

2. Date and time for confessions on Saturday prior to your wedding date, from 4pm-5pm.

3. Date and time to get and bring in the Marriage License from the City and County of San Francisco, or San Mateo County Recorder's office.

4. Date and time to bring in the Marriage fees, Music fees and Wedding rehearsal fees. (It is required that these fees be paid a month before the scheduled date of the wedding)

Sacred Music for the Wedding Ceremony:

We offer three options for Liturgical Music as per our policy in our Parish of All Souls

· The Organist: Mrs. Theresa Rowbotham - Telephone No. 925-254-8458

· The Guitar Music, from Saturday 6:30 pm Mass in Spanish: Mr. Bernardo Sanchez - Telephone No. 650-869-7013

· The Guitar Music, from Sunday 12 noon Mass in Spanish: Mr. Jose Francisco Lopez - Telephone No. 650-553-9259 Cántico Nuevo

We do not permit any other music group to replace the above three options. We do not permit Mariachi Music for the wedding ceremonies in the Church.

The Wedding Rehearsals:

Are conducted on the “First Marriage preparation completed, First served” basis, on Thursdays prior to your wedding date beginning at 6:00pm. The time is assigned after the Marriage preparation process is completed. We have a wedding ceremony coordinator. You will be expected to call Ms. Guadalupe Nava at 650-588-4531, 650-444-1925 in advance so that she is made aware of this upcoming event and the time of rehearsal.

The Marriage Fees:

Non-Refundable fees for Calendar booking of the upcoming wedding: $ 100.00 Payable at the time of reserving the date and writing in the Parish Church Calendar. In addition to this,

· Parish Church Wedding Fees for Parishioners (those registered here, those who worship here and use the All Souls Parish Envelopes to support the Parish).

· Parish Church Wedding fees for non-Parishioners:

· Music Fees: Organ or guitar and Organ or guitar with choir singing:

· Wedding Ceremony Coordinator Fees:

All these fees (unless mentioned otherwise), are payable a month in advance to the Parish office marked "Wedding Fees for ____________ Date of the Wedding________ Time _______"to the attention of the Pastor, with names of the couple, date and time of the wedding. The Parish office will issue a receipt of this payment to you.

The Church Space:

The Church is a sacred place. Its proper use is for prayer. It is a privilege to be able to enter into the Holy Presence of God and be filled with His glory and power, majesty and honor. It gives a sense of peace.

Our endeavor has always been and will continue to be able to promote, provide and sustain an atmosphere of prayerful reflection to all while in the Church.

Please help us to maintain its dignity and sacredness.

Flowers:

The Couple celebrating their wedding in All Souls Church is required to arrange for two large flower arrangements to adorn either side of the Tabernacle and leave them there after your wedding as your gift to your Parish Church Community for their continued prayers for you.

Wedding Ceremonies:

All Souls Parish has reserved the Church for most of the Saturdays in order to celebrate Weddings, Quinceañeras and Baptisms. The regular schedule of times for these celebrations are the following: 10:00 am, 12 noon and 2:00 pm.

The scheduled celebrations are expected to begin on time. They usually go for about an hour. The couple getting married on the said Saturday may expect the Church space made available to them for half an hour (30 minutes) before the scheduled ceremony for their decoration and other preparation work.

Beginning on Time:

The Groom and the groom’s men and the bride’s maids are expected to be in the Church at least 30 minutes before the scheduled wedding ceremony time. The Bride is expected to be waiting (in her car or limousine), ready to enter the Church vestibule 15 minutes before the stipulated time for the wedding. The wedding must begin on time.

· Please understand that the Church has its regular pre-arranged weekly and weekend schedule of Masses and services which cannot be changed: Wedding Times are arranged in view of these unmovable schedules. Hence it is very important to begin on time.

· Failure to have everyone in the vestibule of the Church in order to begin the Wedding Mass (on time) may result in making some necessary adjustments to the ceremony in order that the event concludes within the expected time schedule.

· We advise the couples who are getting married, or those celebrating their anniversaries or quinceañeras to be in the Church ready to begin on time.