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Weddings and Marriage Preparation
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Marriage is a vocation to holiness. From their first days as husband and wife through their golden years, married couples have the awesome task of witnessing to God’s faithful love to each other, their children, and society. No couple does this perfectly, and everyone needs help when love feels strained and the going gets tough. All marriages can grow in knowledge, faith, joy, and love. Whether you are just starting out in marriage or have fifty years under your belt, the advice, real life stories, and Church teaching here can help strengthen and bless your marriage.
Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of Nashville is a fantastic resource for various resources to assist you and your family in building and strengthening your domestic church. 
For Your Marriage.org helps couples at all stages of life to understand and live God’s plan for happy, holy marriages by providing educational and spiritual resources. 
Retrouvaille is for couples with marital problems that want marriage help. There is always hope of reviving your relationship. 
BELOVED uncovers the mystery and the meaning of the sacrament of marriage, inviting all couples to experience firsthand the wonder, mystery, and joy behind that first “I do”... whether you said it last year or many years ago. -
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God is love, and He communicates His love to us every day. Marriage is a calling and a gift in which God mysteriously reveals himself, always calling us to a higher love. While many engaged couples focus on preparing for their wedding day, the Church encourages them to spend their engagement preparing for a strong, lifelong marriage, and the responsibilities and challenges that come with it. Please look at frequently asked questions about Catholic weddings at St. Ann Church.
Marriage preparation at Saint Ann Church focuses on the current relationship of the couple in order to prepare for the life they will spend together. Both the natural and supernatural aspects of married life will be discussed as well as clarifying what is marriage and how it should be lived. Rather than lectures, meetings are more like conversations, often between the couple themselves. A minimum of 6 months (ideally 7-8 months) of preparation is needed. Please contact your local pastor AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after your engagement. St. Ann will not schedule a wedding date until marriage preparation has begun. It is strongly recommended not to book any other venue until you've secured a wedding day and time at St. Ann. -
What to Expect: Marriage PreparationDuring Marriage Preparation, you will be required to:
- Watch the video above before the first meeting: Introduction to Catholic Marriage Preparation
- Meet in person with Fr. Fye and/or a facilitator (usually, between 5-6 times over six months).
- Watch the video (above) and prepare to be asked about it during the first meeting.
- Take and discuss the results from the Big Five Personality Test.
- Watch and discuss the twelve episodes of Beloved by the Augustine Institute.
- Attend a Three-to-get-Married retreat.
- Receive a certification from Natural Family Planning instructor or online. For information about Natural Family Planning, click here or check out the Diocese's webpage with lots of information.
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What to Expect: The Wedding
- The Liturgy:
- St. Ann Church celebrates Roman Catholic weddings. Legitimate religious or cultural customs will be considered. Other "customizations" are subject to liturgical laws and the presiding cleric.
- If the couple are both Catholic, a Nuptial Mass is celebrated. If one is not Catholic, then a Wedding Rite is celebrated.
- An organist, cantor, and a menu of sacred music will be supplied by St. Ann Church if the wedding is on our normally scheduled times (Saturdays at 2pm or 7pm). Other wedding times may be possible, with the understanding that there will be no music other than simple chants.
- Your choice from Catholic Wedding Readings
- The People:
- The ideal wedding party will have a maximum of 12 persons, including the Bride and Groom (5 groomsmen and 5 bridesmaids).
- No one under the age of 5 can phyically participate in the wedding liturgy.
- The Cost:
- Budgeting a Wedding
- How much should a Wedding Cost?
- Practicing Catholics who are registered parishioners and habitually attend Sunday Mass at Saint Ann (12+ months prior to the wedding date) may be married in the Church at no cost. Sacred Music and other services have associated costs.
- Couples coming from out of town, or who do not meet the above expectations, must pay $1,250 to the parish for the use of the Church space. This is to encourage couples to get married in their home parishes and to compensate the parish for its use by non-parishioners.
- The Liturgy:
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