Congratulations on your wedding. We hope that all will go smoothly. Below is a list of guidelines we have issued for the appropriate use of the church. Please read this list carefully be prepared to follow them. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at the rectory at 859-371-8051.

Date/Time Call the rectory to reserve a wedding date and rehearsal time, a minimum of 6 months advance notice is required. All dates are considered tentative until you have made arrangements with a priest or deacon to witness your wedding. Weddings are not scheduled during the liturgical seasons of Lent and Advent.

Requirements Catholics must have a copy of their baptismal certificate that is issued within 6 months of the wedding date by the parish where the baptism took place. In an effort to be prepared for Marriage, the Diocese of Covington expects each couple to participate in a Marriage Preparation Program and a three session course for Natural Family Planning. Schedules for these are available in the rectory and on the Diocesan website www.covingtondiocese.org. You must get a license from the State of Kentucky dated no more than 30 days before your wedding, these are available from any county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Celebrant The customary offering for the celebrant is a minimum of $100.00. If the couple wished to have as the celebrant of their wedding any priest/minister other than those assigned to St. Paul, the couple must get approval from the pastor. The priest witnessing the wedding is responsible for the completion of all required documents. Make arrangements to meet with the priest at least 6 months prior to the wedding. Servers may be available from the parish if you have no servers in your family or friends.

Music Music during the ceremony should be liturgical, reflecting the wedding as a sacrament. The prelude music may be contemporary but should still reflect the religious nature of the wedding. Soloists may be used during the wedding, but singing appropriate music and not replacing the music which the congregation should sing. The parish music director can assist you in the selection of music appropriate for the liturgy. The selection of musicians and the music must be approved by the parish music director. A list of musicians and the selected music must be delivered to the director ( at the rectory) at least 2 weeks prior to the weeding. If you use Steve Mason, our parish music director his fee is $150 for one meeting and the wedding, an additional $50 if he needs to rehearse with other selected musicians.

Decorations No flowers, candles or other decorations or symbols may be placed on the altar of sacrifice or attached to the communion rail or attached to the pews to respect the meaning of this sacred place. Couples planning their wedding should be aware that the decorations already in the church cannot be removed or changed for any reason. 

Set up Set up of flowers and/or candles can not begin until after the last Mass or other church activity is finished. These same decorations must be removed immediately after the wedding.

Aisle We do not allow aisle runners in the church.

Candles Additional "no drip" candles can be used in the Sanctuary as long as there is no harm to the carpet or floor of the altar. You will be responsible for any damage done to either the floor or carpet.

Dressing The women may finish dressing for the wedding using the downstairs restroom. It may be found by going down the stairs that are to the right after entering the front of church. If this area is used, it must be thoroughly cleaned immediately after the wedding. Groomsmen should arrive fully dressed and not use this area.

Clean up No rice, paper, confetti or rose petals are permitted to be thrown inside or outside of church. You are responsible for cleaning up any programs, paper, boxes, etc., from the church immediately following the wedding. It would be a good idea to assign someone to take care of this from your family.

Photography Still photography and video/audio taping are permissible but the wedding, a religious ceremony celebrating the beginning of your married life, is the primary focus. The actual photographing and other movements by the photographer should be unobtrusive and NEVER disrupt the flow of the ceremony. All equipment and the photographer should generally be off to the sides or in the balcony and never in the sanctuary. If time allows, pictures may be taken before the wedding and should be finished within 30 minutes after the wedding. Respect for the church should be maintained, do not rearrange items or use them for props. Show this section of the guidelines to your photographer before the rehearsal and wedding.

Special Situations It is recommended that there not be a Mass with the wedding unless both parties are Catholic. Since church discipline does not allow us to invite non-Catholics to receive Communion, the Mass may seem a sign of disunity.

If either party has been married before and not received an a annulment, you will need to see the priest before setting a wedding date.

If there is a pregnancy involved, this should be told to the priest or deacon when asking him to witness your wedding.

Payments Music consultation fees should be paid at the time of the request. All others should be made the night of the rehearsal.

Hall Rental The Carlin Parish Center will hold about 450 people. To reserve the hall and receive policies regarding its use, you must contact the persons in charge of hall rental (see phone numbers below). Use this link to update yourself on the hall rental pricing and scheduling.

Phone Numbers Priest – Rectory 371-8051/Deacon Nick Schwartz 384-6966
Music Director – Steve Mason 371-2268
Hall Rental Manager – Melinda & Dave Wichmann 918-5166