My son and his girlfriend have just gotten engaged after going together for 4 years and I'm thrilled about it. With the engagement being just over a week old, the first dilemma has already surfaced. His fiancee's parents live in North Carolina and she wants to have an outdoor wedding there. They say she MUST be married in a Catholic Church and that they can't get a Priest to marry them in an outdoor wedding. I just want to be sure a Priest marries them. I know in the Coastal Regions they have Easter Mass on the beach so my question is: does anyone know for sure if a Catholic can be married by a Priest at an outdoor wedding? This is a really big issue with them with the "it's our wedding" mantra already being thrown out there.

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Originally Posted by Bev2201

My son and his girlfriend have just gotten engaged after going together for 4 years and I'm thrilled about it. With the engagement being just over a week old, the first dilemma has already surfaced. His fiancee's parents live in North Carolina and she wants to have an outdoor wedding there. They say she MUST be married in a Catholic Church and that they can't get a Priest to marry them in an outdoor wedding. I just want to be sure a Priest marries them. I know in the Coastal Regions they have Easter Mass on the beach so my question is: does anyone know for sure if a Catholic can be married by a Priest at an outdoor wedding? This is a really big issue with them with the "it's our wedding" mantra already being thrown out there.

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It might vary by parish or region but my niece was married by a Priest in an outdoor wedding. I have no idea if she got some sort of dispensation, if the Priest had to get permission, how she got it accomplished.

- I also think it IS their wedding. Why are both families so involved if they are old enough to get married? This is the stuff of which feuds are made.

Bev220l, yes this may be a problem, but I believe with the Bishop's permission it can be accomplished.

Tick