Weddings are a joyous sacrament! If you are thinking of having your upcoming ceremony here at St. Matthew below is everything you need to know. 

The Basics
The date of your wedding is arranged through the parish and the deacon/priest you are going to work with to coordinate the schedules.

To be married in the Church marriage preparation is required as we help you build a love for a lifetime.  Following the policy of our diocese, we ask that you attend the Marriage in the Lord Seminar which is held through the Diocese of Green Bay. You would go to the web site of the diocese – gbdioc.org – to register.  Along with the seminar we ask that you attend the FOCCUS preparation with a married couple of our parish. You will take the FOCCUS online through a FOCCUS couple at the parish. We will give you the married couple to contact to work with you.

The priest or deacon who is celebrating your wedding ceremony will also meet with you initially to start the process and work with you for the marriage ceremony and paperwork required.

You need to belong to St. Matthew Parish or some other Catholic parish to be married here. If you do not belong to St. Matthew’s but belong to let’s say a parish in Milwaukee, you can work your marriage preparation through that parish, as well as the paperwork, and then they would forward that to us. We can talk about it if that is your situation.

Planning

• To help you keep track of wedding planning, print out a copy of St. Matthew Parish's Wedding Checklist.
• We have a worship and music director who needs to talk with you about the musicians and music selections for your wedding. Her name is Anissa Willkom, and she can be reached either at the parish office (920-435-6811 ext. 314) or by her cell (920-606-4883). She will help you as you choose music and musicians that are appropriate for your church wedding. This needs to be taken care of no later than 2 months before your wedding date.
• Prior to your meeting with the deacon or priest you can complete the Marriage Registration Form and bring with you to your appointment. This is not necessary or required but will help get a jump start on marriage prep.

Other Items

• If this is not your first marriage: 1) If divorced you would need an annulment to be married in the Church. If this is completed we would need proof of that process being finished. If not started please talk to Fr. Bob (ex. 318). 2) If your spouse died, we would need the name of your former spouse and proof of the date of his/her death.
• If you are a little “older” as you approach marriage, we can certainly work out a specific marriage preparation for you in light of your age.

If you have any questions contact Ann Dabeck at the parish office at 920-435-6811.