God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.
Genesis 1:27-28
In order to receive any information including date availability, you must complete the Intake Form with a date and time.
The Intake Form must be emailed to office@emmausparish.org
Once the parish office receives the Intake Form, the Director of Sacraments will contact you.
GETTING STARTED IN YOUR MARRIAGE PREPARATION
Bride or Groom must schedule a phone appointment to go over the Marriage Requirements. However well-intentioned this may be, parents, assistants or wedding planners of the bride & groom may not arrange appointments, make changes for them or request information about the wedding.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Ministers and staff members who will be involved with your preparation and the wedding itself will be the following:
Items Required BEFORE Your Wedding Can Be Scheduled
Preparation at Emmaus:
Preparation at another Church or Non-Registered Members That Live Outside Emmaus Boundaries:
Once all required items are received, you may request your rehearsal and wedding dates and times. If the dates and times are available, you will receive a confirmation from the parish office. If the dates and times are not available, you will be contacted so that an alternate date and/or time may be reserved.
Please note: Do not make reservations for receptions or any other events until you have received a confirmation letter. Until you receive this letter, we
cannot guarantee your wedding date. If you make reservations before receiving this letter and we find that we cannot reserve your requested date, Emmaus will not be responsible for solving resultant problems and issues that this may cause for you.
Baptismal Certificates:
Dispensation
To be married in the Catholic Church, either the bride or groom must be a baptized Catholic. For couples in which one is not Catholic, a dispensation from the Diocese of Austin will be required. This is dispensation or permission from the bishop for the Catholic to marry a non-Catholic. The Catholic member of the couple is to agree by signature that he/she intends to continue practicing the Catholic faith and, also, intends to have the couple’s children both baptized and raised Catholic.
Annulments: Have Either of You Been Married Before?
If either party, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, has been in a previous marriage (civil, Catholic, Protestant) that ended in divorce, this must be brought to the attention of the Director of Sacraments, the deacon or the priest immediately to determine, not if an annulment is needed, but, what sort of an annulment is needed. Failure to do so may result in cancellation of your wedding. If necessary, an annulment by the Catholic Church must be obtained in order to be married in the Catholic Church.
This slows down the marriage preparation process since we cannot schedule a wedding or proceed with the marriage preparation until any needed annulments have been received.
Presider
Please remember that if you are arranging for a wedding within the context of a Liturgy of the Word (without the Liturgy of the Eucharist), you may invite a priest or deacon from your parish to preside or you may ask a deacon from Emmaus to preside.
Ask the Director of Sacraments to send him a delegation form. The priest or deacon who will be presiding must sign the delegation form and return it to Emmaus. Our pastor must also sign it before we can schedule your wedding. Guest priests and deacons must be delegated with the authority to preside.
Fees and Stipends for either Emmaus Catholic Parish or Queen of Angels Chapel
Active Contributing Registered Parishioners: $1,500 + $500 refundable deposit = $2,000
Convalidation for Active Contributing Registered Parishioners: $1,500 + $500 refundable deposit = $2,000
Non-parishioners: $2,500 + $500 refundable deposit = $3,000
Convalidation for Non-parishioners: $2,500 + $500 refundable deposit = $3,000
Marriage file only: $200
Marriage Retreat: Contact your local diocese for registration and fees.
Included in the above fees:
STIPEND FOR PRIEST OR DEACON -The stipend for the priest or deacon is a
a free will offering, and is
NOT included in the above cost, but is suggested.
It is customary to give a stipend to the priest or deacon who presides at your wedding. Please keep in mind that he is pivotal in making your wedding the day of beauty and blessing that it is meant to be. This requires of him a significant amount of work and effort apart from his other duties.
An Active Contributing Registered Parishioner of Emmaus Parish is defined as
one who has been registered
for a minimum of one year before contacting the parish about setting a wedding date and has been actively financially contributing to the Parish.
If the wedding needs to be cancelled for any reason, after 60 days of it being scheduled, all but the deposit,
marriage file and electronic processing fee will be refunded.
Weddings may not be scheduled on Fridays, Sundays, during Lent or Holy Days of Obligation. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Lent is a season of reconciliation and reflection; thus, festive celebrations are not consistent with the spirit of the season. Please consult with the parish office on what is available before deciding on your wedding date.
Also, if a holy day of obligation falls on a Saturday, there will be no weddings scheduled on that day.
Emmaus Catholic Parish
Queen of Angels Chapel
Due to the size of the chapel, there may be no more than 150 in attendance including the wedding party. NO EXCEPTIONS
Marriage Preparation Programs
Each couple will participate in at least one of the following marriage preparation programs:
A. Sponsor Couple: A specially trained married couple, the Sponsor Couple, meets with the engaged couple on four or five occasions. The workbook, Together in God’s Love is used as guide in the discussions.
B. Retreat weekend -OR- 4-class series: The Austin Diocese offers Together in God’s Love marriage preparation in a weekend retreat -OR- at the Pastoral Center. Current dates, fees and registration information may be found on the Diocesan website:
https://austindiocese.org/marriage-preparation
C. Online marriage preparation: The Austin Diocese has approved the online marriage preparation course provided by Agape Catholic Ministries: https://www.catholicmarriageprep.com/
Introduction to Natural Family Planning
Each couple will take a Natural Family Planning (NFP) Introductory Course. Although an introductory course is required, a full course is preferred as couples find it more beneficial. You can learn more about NFP at https://austindiocese.org/natural-family-planning -OR- Austin Fertility Care https://www.austinfcc.org/registration/
PREPARE-ENRICH assessment with one of the above programs: The Director of Sacraments will assist you with this relationship assessment. There is a $35 processing fee for the assessment.
Marriage License
The couple is responsible for obtaining a marriage license from a Texas county courthouse. You may obtain a license between 89 days and 72 hours prior to the wedding. Please note that the only way to obtain a license after the 72 hour limit has passed is by obtaining a judge’s permission and this is very difficult to obtain. Do not procrastinate! We ask that you deliver the license to the office once it is obtained so it is on file for your wedding day one month prior to your wedding date.
PLANNING YOUR CEREMONY
Dress Code
Please keep in mind the virtue of modesty when choosing your dress and the dresses of your bridesmaids, attendants, those in the procession, and lectors. You will be worshipping in a sacred place, therefore strapless, spaghetti straps, low-cut, and bare back dresses are inappropriate and NOT ALLOWED for this occasion.
If you come dressed inappropriately, you will be required to wear a shawl from the church. You may bring your own shawl or jacket. Dresses must also be at least knee length.
Dresses with bare midriffs, short dresses/skirts, high slits, skin-tight outfits, plunging necklines, or backless gowns are not dignified or appropriate for the wedding rehearsal, Marriage Rites or Mass.
Liturgy and Wedding Music
Music fee is NOT included in the fee above
All wedding music and liturgy, both at the main church and the chapel is under the direction of Heather Sheek, Director of Liturgy and Music.
She must be contacted for an in-person appointment, once your wedding is scheduled at liturgy@emmausparish.org, for your music and reading selections.
All music for weddings in the context of Mass or Liturgy of the Word must be sacred music or approved classical music. Recorded & iPhone music is not permitted.
Flowers
No decorations, but three altar floral arrangements are permitted in the church.
Two arrangements can be placed at either side of the altar and the other in front of the ambo/pulpit.
Flowers offered for the Marion devotion are allowed.
Hired Wedding Consultants
If you hire a wedding consultant, please make sure the consultant understands that he/she has no role in the rehearsal or the actual wedding and cannot contact the church for information about your wedding. Information about your wedding will not be released to them, family members, nor the wedding party. These are under the guidance of the priest or deacon presiding and the Emmaus Wedding Coordinator Ministry. The planner need not be present at the rehearsal or may sit with the congregation during the wedding if they like.
Outside wedding consultants, employed by the bride or groom, have NO AUTHORITY to plan any part of the liturgy or to decorate, arrange or re-arrange the Church. The parish guidelines under the authority of the Pastor are to be followed. Please inform your Wedding Consultant of these instructions.
Photography and Videography
Photographs may be taken in the church before the ceremony and MUST BE finished at least 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the ceremony. You have 20 minutes for photographs to be taken in the Church after the end of the ceremony; however, because there may be additional weddings and other services scheduled in the church, the church must be cleared 30 minutes after the wedding. The wedding party, guests and photographer must be out of the church by 3:30 PM if your scheduled time is at 2:00 PM.
Bride, Groom and Photographers and Videographers will receive a contract for them to read, sign and return both to the Wedding Coordinator and the Director of Sacraments one month prior to the wedding.
REMINDERS
PLEASE PROVIDE THESE REMINDERS TO YOUR WEDDING PARTY.
Couples must sign a form attesting that they understand and agree to these Emmaus Parish Wedding Requirements upon their initial visit with the Director of Sacraments.