Plan a Wedding
Congratulations on your engagement! We are delighted for you, and ready to support you as you prepare for married life.
Preparing for marriage in the Diocese of Harrisburg is a process of intentional discernment, accompaniment, and vocational formation that takes at least 9 months.
Please contact your pastor shortly after your engagement to begin this immediate phase of preparation.
Please complete the form below to request a wedding date
Preparation consists of the following:
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- Pre-Marital Inventory—couples separately complete the inventory and then discuss the results with either the preparing cleric or their mentor couple.
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- Retreat—an immersion in the theology of marriage with opportunities for prayerful dialogue and reflection. Diocesan required retreats can be found below.
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- Canonical Process—the initial interview with the priest or deacon, which includes completion of the canonical forms and review of the Pre-Marital Inventory.
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- Liturgical Planning—coordination between couple, clergy, and appropriate liturgical minister to plan the appropriate form of celebration.
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- Formation and Accompaniment—a series of individual gatherings between 1) the couple and their mentor couple, and 2) between the couple and the preparing cleric.
Register for a Retreat
God’s Plan for Love is a single-day program that explores the Church’s teachings on: marriage as a sacrament and a vocation; the human person and God’s design for marriage; and human sexuality. The diocese offers many God’s Plan conferences throughout the year and in a variety of diocesan locations.
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Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE) is a weekend retreat for engaged couples to spend time away as a couple and to learn more about the faith and about marriage. On the weekend, couples communicate in depth about their future lives together – their strengths and weaknesses, desires and goals, and their attitudes about money, sex, children, and their role as a family in the church and in society.
We look forward to that day when you will stand before God’s altar to exchange your vows of love and begin your lifetime of marital union.