Churches that marry non-members

Hey Laura, what kind of church are you looking for? Have you contacted the local diocese to see what their rules and fees are?

Is $100 for a ceremony space unusual for your area? I only ask because in my area that amount for reserving a church, whether it would be for a member or a non-member, would be quite reasonable.

Would your FH be satisfied with a wedding led by a minister but not in a church if it turns out you can't get around this fee?

I've contacted 53 churches in total, all faiths. They either charge a very high fee, or want us to go to marriage classes or both. When my budget is 3000, 100 is high. Yes that seems to be normal. That's actually on the lower end of what i've heard. I wish my fiancee would consider getting married in the same place we have our reception but he is insisting on a church wedding. I can't afford 100.

I found a church we could rent as non members here on WW, but it's a DEFINITE no. They want 100 and hour, 50 an hour set up before and 50 an hour after take down, 100 for the elctricals like microphones, and the 100 to clean. What the heck?? my fiancee nearly had a coronary! it's a shame, really nice church...that would be a quarter of our budget!!!

I'm not from your area but I did do a lot of searching before finding the church for our ceremony.

1. Costs I found were between $500-$1000 to rent the sanctuary for non-members. The church we chose is $500. We get the officiant, ceremony music, coordinator, cleaning, equipment, and the required pre-marital counseling. There are also a lot of rules we have to follow.

2. Every church I looked into required said counseling.

I can't help you with finding a church that fits your needs, but I hope this helps as far as average pricing and requirements.

I've contacted over 54 churches, so i've been trying. This one was by far the most expensive. Paying over 100 is insane to us, especially in this area. We're probably just going to find minister and get married at the venue. My former church only charges 75 for everything, including free programs, but I was married there already and my FH doesn't want to marry in the same place. I get it

Does anyone in your (or his) immediate family have a church where the pastor/priest might consider working with you? If you want to get away with a lower fee and also a lesser possibility of no classes, you'll probably want to stick with a church that is not Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, or Presby, at least in my experience.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I have been attending an Eastern Orthodox church, but my family members are all Catholic or Lutheran. The priest said that he'd be happy to do it if we are willing to meet a LOT of stringent requirements, but if that doesn't work for us, he would be happy to bless the marriage after the fact as well. I'm considering speaking with my parents' pastor, because even though I have an issue with the church, I don't have an issue with him, and he looks like he actually does a lot of nondenomonational weddings. No idea if he requires classes, though. He's Lutheran, so I'll be shocked if there is no class/counseling requirement. (We are talking about counseling from a professional counselor so maybe that will qualify. Maybe it would for you, too?)

Hi Laura, I know this is several years later and not sure if you will see this. But was just wondering if you had a list of the churches that would marry you, even for a fee?

We are having a hard time finding a local church that will marry non-members in the same area you were searching in!

Thank you!