PreCana (Pre-Marriage Education Seminar)
We warmly invite you to participate in our PreCana program, designed to support and enrich your journey toward marriage. This seminar fulfills the requirement of the Archdiocese of Chicago for engaged couples to participate in a pre-marriage education seminar. The program is offered four times a year and takes place over three consecutive Sunday afternoons, from 2:00–4:45 PM, followed by an invitation to attend the 5:00 PM Mass with our community. The fee per couple is $275.
Each session includes presentations from OSP staff leaders and married couples who share their lived experiences. You and your partner will also have dedicated time for one-on-one conversation, reflecting on how each topic relates to your own relationship. We warmly invite you to join us for the 5:00 PM Mass immediately following each session.
Because this program is held in person and designed to be interactive, couples often engage more deeply with both the material and each other than in a virtual format. Our goal is to help you have meaningful conversations and feel better prepared for marriage. The program offers space to reflect, discuss the realities of married life, and connect with other engaged couples in our community.
At the conclusion of the three-week program, you will receive a completion certificate to share with the parish where you will be married, for inclusion in your marriage file. For additional questions, contact Keara Ette at [email protected].
Planning an Out of Town Wedding
If you live in Cook or Lake County, Illinois and are planning a Catholic wedding outside of Cook or Lake County (i.e. outside of the Archdiocese of Chicago), you will need to do your marriage preparation locally (within the Archdiocese of Chicago). Old St. Pat's would be happy to help with this 'out of town marriage preparation' process, and the fee is $400. We ask for a contribution of $400 to cover administrative costs of your wedding preparation. To make arrangements, please email [email protected].
Planning Music for your Wedding at Old St. Pat's
We are delighted to help you in this exciting time to bring a piece of Old St. Pat's music to your wedding celebration!
The process for beginning to plan music for your Old St. Pat's wedding begins at our Wedding Music Site: oldstpats.org/wedding-music. You will find the resources, guidelines, and overall process here to begin, including repertoire samples, and forms to request your music and musicians. Consider attending one of our Wedding Music Fairs. These are held in the church in early February and October. These provide the opportunity for couples to hear the many talented and skilled cantors who sing for weddings, as well as a string quartet, trumpet, and Irish traditional instruments, and they present excerpts of the best and most effective repertoire selections we have found for wedding celebrations.
Unity Candle
We would be delighted to have an Old St. Pat's Unity Candle ready for you at the Church. Please place your order online here.
Frequently Asked Questions for Weddings at Old St. Patrick’s
Since we celebrate more than 120 weddings each year, we have a lot of experience answering questions about the marriage process.
Contact [email protected] with any questions you may have.
To inquire about available dates for your wedding at Old St. Pat's, please fill out this form.
We warmly invite you to participate in our PreCana program, designed to support and enrich your journey toward marriage. This seminar fulfills the requirement of the Archdiocese of Chicago for engaged couples to participate in a pre-marriage education seminar. The program is offered four times a year and takes place over three consecutive Sunday afternoons, from 2:00–4:45 PM, followed by an invitation to attend the 5:00 PM Mass with our community. The fee per couple is $275.
Each session includes presentations from OSP staff leaders and married couples who share their lived experiences. You and your partner will also have dedicated time for one-on-one conversation, reflecting on how each topic relates to your own relationship. We warmly invite you to join us for the 5:00 PM Mass immediately following each session.
Because this program is held in person and designed to be interactive, couples often engage more deeply with both the material and each other than in a virtual format. Our goal is to help you have meaningful conversations and feel better prepared for marriage. The program offers space to reflect, discuss the realities of married life, and connect with other engaged couples in our community.
At the conclusion of the three-week program, you will receive a completion certificate to share with the parish where you will be married, for inclusion in your marriage file. For additional questions, contact Keara Ette at [email protected].
Planning an Out of Town Wedding
If you live in Cook or Lake County, Illinois and are planning a Catholic wedding outside of Cook or Lake County (i.e. outside of the Archdiocese of Chicago), you will need to do your marriage preparation locally (within the Archdiocese of Chicago). Old St. Pat's would be happy to help with this 'out of town marriage preparation' process, and the fee is $400. We ask for a contribution of $400 to cover administrative costs of your wedding preparation. To make arrangements, please email [email protected].
Planning Music for your Wedding at Old St. Pat's
We are delighted to help you in this exciting time to bring a piece of Old St. Pat's music to your wedding celebration!
The process for beginning to plan music for your Old St. Pat's wedding begins at our Wedding Music Site: oldstpats.org/wedding-music. You will find the resources, guidelines, and overall process here to begin, including repertoire samples, and forms to request your music and musicians. Consider attending one of our Wedding Music Fairs. These are held in the church in early February and October. These provide the opportunity for couples to hear the many talented and skilled cantors who sing for weddings, as well as a string quartet, trumpet, and Irish traditional instruments, and they present excerpts of the best and most effective repertoire selections we have found for wedding celebrations.
Unity Candle
We would be delighted to have an Old St. Pat's Unity Candle ready for you at the Church. Please place your order online here.
Frequently Asked Questions for Weddings at Old St. Patrick’s
Since we celebrate more than 120 weddings each year, we have a lot of experience answering questions about the marriage process.
- Getting Married at Old St. Pat’s
- Necessary Documents
- Ceremony, Flowers, Music and Photography
- Wedding Livestream Request Form
Contact [email protected] with any questions you may have.
To inquire about available dates for your wedding at Old St. Pat's, please fill out this form.