Planning For Your Wedding

If you are interested in celebrating your wedding at Saint Raymond De Peñafort Church, your preparation process should begin six months to one year prior to your wedding date. Parish membership is not required. We look forward to helping you prepare for the sacrament of marriage. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the bride and groom minister the sacrament of marriage to each other. A priest or deacon and two witnesses must also be present to witness the union. Ordinarily, one of the priests or deacons on staff preside at weddings celebrated at Saint Raymond. If a couple has a special relationship with one of the clergy at St. Raymond, clergy at another parish, or a family member who is a priest or deacon, they may ask him to preside, after the wedding date has been reserved. If the couple plans for an outside priest or deacon, this should be mentioned at the time they register. It is assumed that a visiting priest or deacon will take on the responsibility of planning your celebration, completing the necessary paperwork, and contacting the parish.

When you book your wedding date and time, you reserve the church for 90 minutes, one hour for your ceremony, and thirty minutes for photos afterward. Marriage celebrations usually take place at 1 pm or 3 pm on Saturdays. Marriages may take place on other days that are mutually agreed upon by the priest or deacon and the couple, provided they do not conflict with other parish events in the church.

Please contact Saint Raymond at 847-253-8600 ext. 151, Mondays through Fridays, during regular business hours for information and to book your wedding.

About the Church

Saint Raymond is a contemporary, brick and wood modern church. Built in 1961 and remodeled in 1988, the church has a vaulted 40-foot-high roof that creates an open feel with clean lines. Four sections of pews face the altar. There are 28 rows of pews in each section, which provide comfortable seating for 700 guests. The main aisle is 100 feet long, allowing for processions of all size wedding parties. The south wall of the church is stained glass and tells the story of the life of Jesus from the Annunciation to the Resurrection in modern symbolic form. The church has a balcony at the back of the church, which seats 70 additional guests. The balcony has a rear, stained glass window that extends from the breadth of the balcony seats to the peak of the roof and depicts the Eucharist surrounded by flames, flowers, doves, and angels. There is a bride’s room just off the vestibule at the back of the church that is available for use by the wedding party. The only statuary in the church is the Holy Family Shrine, and couples are invited to bring flowers to the Virgin during their ceremony if they so choose. The church is air-conditioned and has a modern sound system and state-of-the-art video equipment. Please see the photos to the left.

Wedding Liturgies at Saint Raymond de Peñafort

Saint Raymond offers three different wedding ceremony options to fit the needs and desires of all of our wedding parties. All are valid in the Catholic Church and legal in the State of Illinois. The different liturgies are offered to accommodate everyone, from couples who were raised Catholic and are active in their church to interfaith marriages between a Catholic and non-Catholic Christian. St. Raymond also allows visiting clergy from other faith traditions to co-officiate at interfaith weddings here. The liturgies we offer are:

• A simple ceremony of vows witnessed by a deacon or priest that does not include communion. This ceremony welcomes all attendees, no matter what their faith tradition.
• A ceremony of vows witnessed by a deacon or priest that includes communion but is not a full mass. This welcomes couples who want to include the Body of Christ at their wedding but without the formality of a mass.
• A ceremony of vows within a Catholic mass celebrated by a priest. This ceremony welcomes Catholic couples and their families who see their union as a commitment to live the sacramental life and be a part of a Catholic community.

Paperwork and Procedures for a Catholic Wedding

Engaged couples must meet with the Director of Discipleship Formation when they register to marry to determine if they are freed to marry in the Catholic church.  Six months prior to their wedding, they will meet again with the Director to complete the required paperwork. Both Catholic and non-Catholic Christians will be asked to provide a recently issued (signed and dated no more than six months before the wedding date) baptismal certificate with notations from the church of their baptism. Parents or close family relations will be asked to complete and sign an affidavit about the bride and the groom’s ability to enter into a Catholic marriage.

In addition, couples will have to present a Cook County Marriage License and complete a marriage preparation program either through the Archdiocese of Chicago or Saint Raymond.

The couple will also have at least one meeting with the clergyman marrying them prior to the wedding.