(These
forms are required from all couples being married here)
1.
PERSONAL & WITNESS TESTIMONY FORM
The engaged couple provides
information regarding identity, status in the church, and freedom to
marry. This form must be filled out in the
presence of a Catholic priest or deacon or official auditor of the church.
The Church also provides a form
for the parents of the couple, confirming the information provided by the
couple. If the parents are deceased or
not available, a close friend or relative who has known the person since the
age of twelve (12) may complete the form.
This form must also be filled out in the presence of a Catholic
priest or deacon or official auditor of the church. One witness is necessary for
each party (i.e., total of two).
2. BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATES
Catholics and any baptized
Christians must provide recently issued copies of their baptismal certificates
(by "recent" is meant within the last six (6) months).
This is a standard procedure in the Church. Baptismal certificates can be obtained by either calling or
writing the church where the individual was baptized. Ask that a copy be sent directly to St. Francis of Assisi Parish
addressed to: Wedding Coordinator, St.
Francis of Assisi Parish, 1066 26th Street, Sacramento CA 95816-4853
3. DISPENSATION & PERMISSIONS
If one of the engaged couple is not Catholic or a
baptized Christian, an Application
for Matrimonial Dispensation & Permissions is required (the
priest preparing you for marriage will see that these permissions or
dispensations are received).
4. MARRIAGE LICENSE
The couple must
present a valid California Marriage License to the Church at the rehearsal.
A.
Official witnesses
of the marriage may be non-Catholic.
B.
With the
appropriate permissions, a non-Catholic minister may be invited to participate
in the Catholic marriage service.
1. TIME OF CEREMONY
Weddings are celebrated only on
Saturdays to allow for maximum building use.
Weddings are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. No changes in these times are allowed.
2. REHEARSAL
To familiarize the wedding party
with the procession, the sanctuary, ushering and other elements of the
celebration, you will need to schedule a rehearsal. The rehearsal usually lasts at least one hour and everyone that
has a part in the wedding should be in attendance. The rehearsals are scheduled on the Friday evening before the day
of the wedding.
3. CHURCH DECORATIONS
Some decorations are permitted. Setting them up and cleaning them up is your
responsibility. Please check with the
Wedding Coordinator as to when and what you may set up for your
decorations. Aisle runners are strongly
discouraged as they are meant for non-carpeted floors.
Seasonal
parish decorations may not be taken down or moved for any reason.
4. FLOWERS
Please check with the Wedding Coordinator. Have your
florists work with your Wedding Coordinator as to the placement of flowers. No flowers are to be placed on the altar.
5. CANDELABRA
The church has two candelabra,
which may be used. Candles are never
allowed on the carpeted areas of the church.
6. FACILITIES FOR DRESSING
Brides may use the "Brides
Room" near the restrooms at the side of the church. The Wedding Coordinator will show you the
room after your rehearsal. Cleaning up
immediately after the wedding is your responsibility. If there is another
wedding scheduled after yours, you will be asked to clear the room 15 minutes
before you leave for your ceremony. We have no dressing facilities for men
except the men’s restroom. All items
left in these rooms are at your own risk.
Nothing should be left in the room the night before the wedding.
7. PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
The use of photography in a
wedding ceremony has to be handled sensitively. Often it causes friction and hard feelings because individuals
hold opposing views of what a marriage liturgy is meant to be. The Christian
understanding is that the wedding is an act of worship, which has its own
unique relation to time. A photograph
album, a video tape, a sound track, all can be precious reminders of the
sacredness of the moment in which a couple pledged their lives to each other,
and can even sustain their love through difficult periods of marriage in later
years.
These, however, are not to
interrupt the flow of the liturgy.
Videographers must remain stationary and may at no time be in the center
aisle. The may not use flood or spotlights. Professional photographers pride themselves
on their ability to be unobtrusive. More troubling are amateurs who appear
inappropriately and destroy the impact of the most solemn moments. Please
advise the wedding coordinator if you are going to have the ceremony videotaped.
If you need suggestions as to a
photographer, please ask your wedding coordinator, she keeps a list of great
photographers that have photographed weddings here.
The
sanctuary is not to become a studio for photograph sessions. If photos
are taken before the liturgy nothing is to be moved in the Church for the
purpose of photographs. The altar and
lectern are never to be moved for photographic sessions preceding or following
the ceremony. If the side-chapel is
used for pictures, the chairs must be moved back into their original positions.
Engaged couples are encouraged to
have pictures taken before the ceremony so that they may be present to the
guests after the liturgy. Pictures
should cease thirty minutes before the liturgy begins to provide time for
setting a prayerful atmosphere. If
pictures are taken after the ceremony, allow enough time so that the picture
taking will not interfere with other scheduled activities. Should your ceremony run long, you will have
to take your after-wedding pictures outside.
8.
PARKING
We suggest you let your guests know that we have a
free parking lot behind the church.
Parking on the streets is metered from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm Monday
through Saturday.
9. THROWING RICE
Rice, birdseed or confetti are not
allowed to be thrown after weddings; they are potential hazards to persons and
animals. We appreciate your cooperation
in this. Nothing may be scattered or
thrown (real or silk) during the wedding ceremony due to carpet stains and lack
of time for clean up. The releasing of
Doves after the ceremony has become very popular here at St. Francis. If interested, please contact Anna Lisa
Hernandez at 443-2165, or www.whitebird.com.
10. CLEAN-UP
The engaged couple is responsible
for clean-up including; collecting leftover programs, bows, flower boxes and
any other debris after the ceremony.
Well ahead of time, the engaged couple should designate trustworthy
persons to be responsible for clean up.
There will be an additional fee of $25.00 paid to the wedding coordinator
should the church not be cleaned up after the ceremony.
11. ALCOHOL
No alcohol is allowed in the church building or
brides room. Use of alcohol or drugs by
the persons to be married impairs the validity of a marriage. Any others attending under the influence of
alcohol will be asked to leave the premises regardless of their relationship to
the bride and groom. If there is
drinking in or about the Church or the bride or groom is under the influence of
drugs or alcohol at the wedding the wedding will be cancelled.
12. RECEPTIONS
The Parish Hall is available for
your use. There are required rental and
cleaning deposit fees. The Diocese of
Sacramento also requires Liability Insurance.
Please call Fran Anderson at 443-8084 for further information.
13. FEES
For registered and contributing
parishioners of at least 1 year, the church donation is $550.
For non-registered parishioners
the church donation is $1,000.
At the time a date is assigned to
you, a $100 NON REFUNDABLE deposit is required. The entire donation must be paid in full at least one month
before the wedding.
The donation for the use of the
church does not include the stipend for the presider, or the fees for the
church wedding coordinator and musicians.
The customary stipend for the presider is at least $100. The church wedding coordinator’s fee is
$150; this fee is due at the wedding rehearsal.
Planning
the liturgical celebration is an essential part of the preparation for the
wedding day. This planning must
consider not only the preferences of the engaged couple but also the values and
needs of the Church: the community which will gather to celebrate, the parish
in which the celebration will occur, the priest or presiding deacon and the various
liturgical ministers involved in the celebration (readers, musicians, ushers,
altar servers, eucharistic ministers).
These liturgical guidelines are presented to supplement the general
norms for wedding celebrations found in the Catholic Church's official Rite of
Marriage. They are meant to assist the
engaged couple and the presiding minister in planning the wedding ceremony.
A. Ideally,
a liturgy has a central message which focuses attention for that liturgy so
that those participating will share in a definite, discernible experience of
faith. Obviously, it will not be an
exclusive focus, but it will be a dominant, recurring message which will
clearly stands out and makes an impression.
Rather than simply have a
celebration about love, couples should identify the specific characteristic of
their love; commitment, loving for a lifetime, love as service, etc. This message should be expressed through the
music, visual decorations, scripture readings, and the homily. It should also guide the selection of the
prayers and blessings, the responses, and other specific elements.
B. The
marriage ritual offers options within the ceremony. The presiding priest or deacon will help you to make these
choices.
C. The
time for a wedding must respect the other regularly scheduled events in the
church. Scheduling should allow
adequate time for unhurried celebration, social gathering, the taking of
photographs and cleaning up.
D. Catholic marriage is an act of worship. The parish church reflects both the sacredness
of the event and a realization that it is an act of the Christian
community. Only the bishop can give
permission to hold a wedding celebration outside the parish church; such
permission is seldom granted in this diocese.
E. Wedding
programs for the assembly are recommended.
They should be carefully designed to include the order of service and
responses of the liturgy in their proper dimensions.
F. Seasonal church decorations may
not be taken down or moved for any reason.
Particular
decisions about choice and placement of wedding music within the liturgy should
be rooted in the three judgments proposed in Music in Catholic Worship:
|
1. |
The liturgical judgment: Does the music's text, form, placement and
style fit the nature of the liturgy? |
|
2. |
The musical judgment: Is the music technically, aesthetically and
expressively good? |
|
3. |
The pastoral judgment: Will the music help this assembly to pray? |
In
any liturgy, the assembly is meant to take part as active participants rather
than passive spectators. The music in a
liturgy should enable the assembly to play its rightful role. Music in liturgy is not meant to be a
performance but a means of involvement or at least a background, which enhances
prayer. There is to be no taped music
played during the ceremony.
The following are a few of the talented musicians
that regularly play for weddings at St. Francis.
|
Janet Stites |
731-5408 |
(pianist) |
|
Jill Ferreter |
737-2668 |
(pianist) |
|
John Williams |
(530) 426-1544 |
(organist & pianist) |
|
Robert Brinzer |
379-0446 |
(organist & pianist) |
|
Alan Nissila |
920-0573 |
(pianist & soloist) |
|
Dierdre Bigus |
454-0200 |
(soloist) |
|
John Zapata |
739-8220 |
(soloist) |
|
Mary Slimko |
395-4704 |
(guitarist & soloist) |
|
Peggy Brown |
961-8308 |
(harpist) |
|
The Camellia String Quartet |
447-4648 |
(Quartet) |
|
Music
a Due |
456-8223 |
(harp and flute) |
|
Mariachi Los Gallos |
731-7238 or |
|
The organ
at St. Francis may only be played by our organists John Williams or Rob
Brinzer. Please contact one of them if
you would like organ music.
PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT ARE FAMILAR WITH THE CHURCH
|
Belle Photography |
(916)
939-6980 |
|
|
Sharpe
Photography (ask for
Sam) |
(916) 772-3934 |
|
|
Jay Cowle |
(916) 338-2039 |
|
|
Sumara Inuzuka Photography |
(916) 529-3684 |
|
|
Christopher
Kight |
(916) 484-1164 |
|
|
Allison Johnson |
(916) 201-3012 |
|
|
|
|
|
VIDEOGRAPHERS THAT ARE FAMILAR WITH THE CHURCH
|
Patrick Kuske |
(916)
479-1656 |
Patrick is a parishioner
here and offers $200.00 off weddings performed here.
|
|
DOVE RELEASES |
|
|
White Bird (Anna
Hernandez) |
(916) 443-2165 |
|
|
FLOWERS |
|
|||
|
Flourish
Designs |
(916) 452-3200 |
|
|||
|
|
BRIDAL CONSULTING |
|
|
|
A Day to Remember |
(916)
452-4373 |
||
BASIC OUTLINE OF THE RITE OF
MARRIAGE
|
Prelude: (Music) |
|
INTRODUCTORY RITES |
|
Processional: (Music)
Greeting:
Opening Prayer: |
|
LITURGY OF THE WORD |
|
First Reading:
Psalm Response: (Music)
Second Reading: (Optional) Gospel: Homily:
Prayers of the Faithful |
|
RITE OF MARRIAGE |
|
Exchange of Consent:
Blessing and Exchange of Rings:
Our Father:
Sign of Peace: |
|
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
(Optional) Presentations of the Gifts: |
|
CONCLUDING RITE |
|
Closing Prayer:
Nuptial Blessing:
Final Blessing: Recessional: (Music) |