Do we require any permission from church to organize an outdoor wedding?

My boyfriend and I have planned to get married soon; however, we are not quite sure if we should do it outdoors, or in a church. It is summer time, and in Chicago, it gets quite difficult to manage things in scorching heat! Nonetheless, there are always scopes of extensive decorations in an outdoor wedding. I wanted to know from some wedding expert whether we would be required to take some permission or license to organize an outdoor wedding! Is it a hard deal as compared to a church wedding?

Jan 11 2012

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ASHESH PANDIA | Jan 14 2012

It is a very intriguing and interesting question indeed. Be informed that your question does not have a specific answer. I do not think you are quite aware about the marriage laws. The law regarding allowing the marriage to happen outside the church is very complicated. There are lot of 'ifs' and 'buts' involved. Nonetheless, where there is a will there is a way.

Simply put, yes you do require permission from the church to bend the rules. You should not face much of a problem if your boyfriend is not a Catholic. What you will have to prove to the religious heads is that it is indeed impossible for you get married inside the church because otherwise you will not get to marry at all. Your argument should better be strong and logical enough for the priests to agree.

If you and your boyfriend both are Catholic, then I believe you need to read the rule book. You will get a fair idea about what does the church allows or does not or to what extent it allows the shifting of the wedding from the church to outside the church, if you visit the website catholicexchange.com.

And god willing, if you do get the permission, then again, organizing a wedding outside the church, as you rightly pointed out, is harder than organizing in a church for a variety of reasons. It all begins from selecting the right place to making your guests comfortable to exchanging the wedding vows with all sanctity. It involves lot of logistics, great administration and excellent planning. If you can manage all this then why not? There is nothing more exciting than entering into a blissful matrimony on the sands of a picturesque beach.