The Sacrament of Marriage

If you are a Catholic living in Llanederyn, Pentwyn, Pontprennau or St Edeyrn's Village, and wish to get married, you must arrange the necessary paperwork through the Parish of St Philip Evans. If you are choosing to have your wedding elsewhere, and even if you worship regularly in another Catholic Church in Cardiff, the Catholic paperwork must still begin with the parish priest of the place where you actually live. You will find this Guide to Paperwork useful.

Similarly, if you wish to be married in St Philip Evans Church, but do not live within our parish boundaries, you must first approach the parish priest of the place where you actually do live. Once he has agreed that you are free to marry within the rules of the Catholic Church, you should contact us at St Philip Evans to arrange a date for the wedding ceremony.

All persons getting married in Catholic ceremonies must provide the appropriate Letters of Freedom.

Once you are ready to plan the actual ceremony, the minister at the venue for the ceremony will work with you to choose appropriate readings and music.

Finally, whether you are already married or planning a future wedding, you may find one or more of these marriage and relationship resources from Pontypridd Deanery most useful.

The Catholic Church does not charge for its sacraments, but it is customary to make an offering to the minister conducting the wedding, and a donation towards maintenance costs of the church. For a wedding in St Philip Evans, it would be appropriate for the donation to the church to be in the same region as what you are paying for flowers. (If paying by cheque, the first is to the minister by name, and the second is payable to the “Parish of St Philip Evans”.)

For the civil registration of a wedding taking place at St Philip Evans, the Authorised Person must be paid; the Government updates the rate periodically but the rate in January 2016 was £86.00. This is made payable by name to the person attending.

If an organist or other musician attends, they will also charge a fee. Separate fees and booking arrangements apply if you wish to hire the Parish Hall for a reception afterwards.

Most of the weddings we perform are between a Catholic and someone who isn't. There is a little more church paperwork involved in authorising a wedding to someone who's not Catholic, but there's no bar to them marrying a Catholic in a Catholic Church as long as they are comfortable with that. As with all Catholic weddings, both spouses must establish that they are free to marry according to the Catholic Church's understanding of marriage; your parish priest will guide you through this.