One of the first decisions that a couple who want to get married must make is about the type of wedding they want, civil or religious? If both you and your partner have decided marry religiously Under the precepts of the Catholic Church, there will be certain requirements that you will have to meet.
What are these requirements for getting married in the church? The main one is to go to your parish to find out what type of documents you must deliver before celebrating the wedding. Once you have met with the parish priest, you will have to take a premarital and gather the required documents for the opening of the matrimonial file.
Find out in your parish
Have you decided to get married in the church? The first step is to go to the parish where you want to marry at least one year in advance to inform you of all the requirements and reserve the date for the link.
The parish priest will inform you of both documents that you must deliver Before celebrating your Catholic religious wedding, as well as the calendar of the premarital courses that you will have to carry out and the need to carry out a few months before the wedding the taking of sayings together with two witnesses.
Take the premarital course
It is one of the requirements for getting married in the church. They consist of a series of sessions in which it reflects on the family and life together, dwelling on possible difficulties, conflict resolution and some biblical concepts and ecclesiastical precepts on marriage and sexuality.
Face-to-face sessions are usually group sessions, meeting in them the different couples interested in getting married and the parish priest. They can be done in any parish and even online in the event that it is impossible for any of the members of the couple to attend in person. Not all churches offer them but more and more are betting on these online courses game as an alternative.
When should they be done? They usually cost several sessions, so the ideal is to take the marriage course six months before the marriage so as not to stress more than you should when the date approaches.
Choose two witnesses for the taking of sayings
Another requirement to get married in the church is the taking of sayings, a process in which both the marriageable couple and the marriage partner participate. two witnesses, one representing each member of the couple. These witnesses must meet a series of requirements: be of legal age and not be related by blood to the contracting parties. They cannot be relatives, but they must know in depth the future spouses.
The witnesses will be in charge of corroborating, answering a series of questions asked by the parish priest, that you marry freely and that there is no impediment to do so. It will be the parish priest who will indicate a date for this meeting, which is usually held two or three months before the wedding.
Gather your documents
It will be the parish priest who will inform you of the series of basic documents that you will have to present to open the marriage file, but we already anticipate that the requirements for a Catholic wedding are the same in the different Spanish dioceses. You will need:
- Photocopy of DNI, passport or residence card of each of the members of the couple.
- Photocopy of the Family Book of the parents where your name appears inscribed.
- Baptismal of the two spouses. You must request it in the parish where you were baptized, providing your name, surname and year of baptism.
- Literal birth certificate of each of the bride and groom. It is requested in the Civil Registry of the town of birth, generally by appointment.
- Certificate of faith and status. It is requested in the Civil Registry civil registry corresponding to your usual address, generally by appointment.
- Take sayings.
- Premarital course certificate.
In the event that one of the spouses is a widower or has been previously married, The marriage certificate and death certificate of the spouse will also be requested in the first case and the divorce certificate in the second.
The Spanish State recognizes canonical marriage as legal, so you will not need to previously celebrate the marriage in the Civil Registry or in court. If you have, however, you should have your civil marriage certificate and a photocopy of it handy.
Now you know all the requirements prior to a perfect wedding.