FAQs

Marriage Preparation

You are madly in love and want to spend the rest of your lives together! What we would like to do is to help you to prepare for your lives together beyond the wedding day and into the future. Our Courses will help you build strong foundations to enable your relationship grow and flourish, giving you the best chance of a committed and fulfilling life together.

Look at your marriage preparation process as an opportunity to look forward towards your new life together, to make sure that you are on the same page as a couple, and that you are ready to face this exciting journey together as one.

When you think of the amount of time and planning, let alone the expense, that goes into preparing for your wedding day, doesn’t it make sense to devote some calm, reflective time out to prepare for life together?

Yes. You are about to engage in a very big life commitment so it is important for you to prepare. The overwhelming majority of couples who attend our Course are glad that they have come. The preferred choice of the Catholic Church in Ireland is Marriage Preparation Courses provided by ACCORD Catholic Marriage Care Service.

Yes. Eight modules are required to complete the full Course in order to receive your Certificate.

Yes, it is important for both of you to attend, as there is a lot of work that you will do on the Course together as a couple.

Unfortunately, no.  The Course gives you undivided time together to discuss and plan for a really important stage in your like. Therefore it is important that you can give your full attention to the Course content together.

No, just bring yourselves.  We will provide you with workbooks.

On the day you complete the Course you will receive a Certificate that you will need to bring back to your priest.

Generally yes. Many couples do their Course with us when they are getting married abroad but you should check with your officiating priest as it is his responsibility to satisfy himself that you are adequately prepared for Sacramental Marriage.  It is important that you leave good time to get all your paperwork done as it takes longer to process when the wedding takes place abroad.  So come and do your Course in good time – at least six months if possible.

Your Course price of  225 euro per couple  includes printed workbooks, a light lunch and refreshments.

Any priest or deacon in good standing can officiate at weddings in the Catholic Church in Ireland, provided that they receive the necessary written permission (“delegation”) from the Administrator of the church  where the wedding is to take place and that they are on the Registrar’s Register of Solemnisers.

The Church expects that a wedding, being a solemn and sacramental event, should occur in a church, which is a sacred space. Being inside a church feels different from anywhere else; it has an atmosphere of peace, reverence and respect where all can feel welcome and it is permeated by  a sense of God’s loving presence.

The preferred option for a Christian marriage is the parish church of either the bride or the groom. In certain circumstances marriages can take place in other churches;  each diocese has its own policy.

Two are required (one witness for the bride and one for the groom) and the civil law in the Republic of Ireland requires that they be over eighteen years of age.

Every couple, regardless of the ceremony they choose, must arrange to meet in person a civil registrar at least three months before the wedding to give the required notice of their intention to marry. When you make an appointment with the Registrar you will be informed about the information, documents and fee that you need to bring with you. At a minimum they will include:

  • Passport ID
  • Birth certificate
  • Other documents depending on the circumstances e.g. documentary evidence of immigration status if not a citizen of Ireland or another EU member state
  • Information about the intended marriage including:
    • Nature of ceremony
    • Intended date and location of the marriage
    • Details of the proposed solemniser of the marriage
    • Names and dates of birth of the two proposed witnesses
    • PPS numbers

When all of the information required has been supplied and provided that there is no impediment to the marriage, the Registrar will issue you with a Marriage Registration Form (MRF). This is like a marriage licence and gives authorisation for a couple to marry in Ireland.  If the marriage does not take place within six months of the date of marriage given on the MRF the process of notification has to be repeated and a new MRF issued.

Before you meet the Registrar arrange to meet one of your local clergy, book the church and know the name of your solemniser and priest who have agreed to celebrate the marriage. When you get your MRF show it to your Priest or Deacon to check that the details are correct.

See www.gov.ie Getting Married In Ireland from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection  for details of the Marriage Registration Form (MRF) etc.

Book Your Course