We have literally handled hundreds of weddings for our parishioners and those who cannot locate someone to give them their ideal wedding. Whether you wish to utilize our parish for an intimate gathering, with seating up to 125; or, perhaps wish to hold your wedding off-site at a location of your choosing? Whatever your desire, we can help you plan a beautiful and one-of-a-kind ceremony that everyone will remember for years to come!
Contact our Pastor at: .
Father Jim St. George Saint Miriam Parish Pastor
Awarded the Esteemed
Bride's Choice Award for 2011
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Saint Miriam, we offer a wide variety of ceremonies and options
from which you can choose to tailor your special day to be
exactly what you want. We guide you through the process of
selecting from a variety of rich and meaningful rituals to
create your one-of-a-kind ceremony.
Our ceremonies range from a simple ceremony to an interdenominational ceremony, to a full Catholic Mass. You can have your ceremony conducted at a location of your choice—yours or ours. Our priests and staff have years of training, experience, and skills to help you to select the options that make your special day—special.
The rituals you select enhance your ceremony
and when combined in just the way you want them, will be
memorable for you and those who are present for your wedding
day. There is also an opportunity to include others in your
ceremony.
We also have a seasoned Wedding Planner
on staff so we are able to help you plan from the very simple
to the most complex of wedding experiences!
A
partial list of options available includes:
Rose Ceremony
Seven Blessings
Hands Ceremony
Blending of Sands
Honoring of Children
Ribbon Ceremony
The Unity Candle
Wine Sharing
Breaking of the Glass
The Memory Candle
Please contact our pastor at 610-941-9800 x 703, to begin the process.
t Saint Miriam, all of our finances run via what we call a ‘transparent policy’; that is, every dollar given by anyone,or any expense, are open for review by our members. We also apply this concept to our standard offering/stipend structure for wedding ceremonies. Below you will find a variety of options that will help you to understand our structure to help you decide which option is best for you. If you have a financial need that cannot be met by these options, please contact our pastor for guidance and other options. At Saint Miriam, all are welcome and no one is turned away.
Wedding Types Available
Your Location
Our Location
Simple Ceremony** (non-customized)
$400
$350
Fully Customized Ceremony
$495
$425
Catholic Nuptial Mass
$650
$550
Priced Options Available
Rehearsal**
$125
$100
Additional meetings
$100
$50
** Travel Expenses (within 25 miles)
No fee
No fee
** Travel Expenses (over 25 miles - round-trip)
$1 per mile
No fee
Wedding Reception "Grace" before meals
$50
N/A
Use of Saint Miriam Fellowship Hall
Please call for details, availability,
& pricing
Holiday Weddings (e.g. New Year’s)
$200
$150
** Due to the rising cost of travel, we regrettably must add a $25.00 travel rate for any wedding more than 30 miles from 19422; other rates may increase without notice. Thank you for your understanding.
The typical flow for our process includes:
Initial meeting via email or in person/phone ("kick-the-tires" meeting!). If couple agrees to commit; then they make a deposit (non-refundable) to secure the date and time - 50% of total is requested.
Help the couple when asked: suggesting venue, county marriage licensing procedures, ceremony program format and contents, wedding music, etc.
Couple receives an emailed package of sample ceremonies, options, “Readings. Poetry, Prayers, etc.” to help them select their core options.
Write and email the Draft Wedding Ceremony script to the couple—this is an interactive process and continues until the ceremony is completed.
Finalize the Wedding Ceremony.
Coordinate, as needed, any rehearsal including working with the designated wedding planner, site location, and/or DJ as needed.
Arrive early for the ceremony—usually 20-30 minutes before start time.
Arrive for the wedding rehearsal, if needed (additional amount may be required**)
Take the wedding license into possession as soon as possible and complete the needed legalities for state or commonwealth.
Prepare the space for the marriage ceremony.
Accommodate any required marriage laws for the jurisdiction where ceremony is performed.
Sign the marriage license, give the couple their copy, and mail the official copy to the appropriate court clerk—within 24 hours of ceremony
Perform the wedding!
**Additional travel expenses may be incurred when distance is over 30 miles from officiant
Additional notes:
Rehearsal:
Our policy is to not attend the wedding reception, but suggest that attending the rehearsal dinner, if asked, works better. We get a chance to see the couple, the wedding party, and the family in a more relaxed, casual setting. Additionally, we are available to answer questions during the dinner. Our exception to this policy is the case where we are close friends.
Many ask why? Well, usually the officiant(s) doesn't know anyone, and sometimes, people feel like they can't have a "good time" if the officiant is sitting at their table! On occasion we have been asked to say the opening prayer at the reception. This usually occurs after the cocktail hour and would need to be factored into the fee.
We will always try our best to always accommodate your rehearsal needs. Please note that the fee structure allows us to be on-site for no more than 30 minutes for scheduling purposes. If we run over 30 minutes from our arrival, an additional fee will be charged. Any rehearsal over 30 miles from 19422 will be assessed a $25 additional mileage fee.
Please also note that we allow ourselves a 10 minutes margin of travel error as rehearsals normally do not start promptly and being right on time is not normally an issue.
A Note on Travel
Due to the rising cost of travel, we regrettably must add a $25.00 travel rate for any wedding more than 30 miles from 19422; other rates may increase without notice. Thank you for your understanding.
Why are there fees for a Priest to perform my Wedding? Our parish priests do not take a salary from their ministry work in order to help us grow and remain stable. Therefore, they actually earn a living by helping couples like you have a beautiful ceremony! When you give them the requested stipend, along with any travel expenses and optional gratuity, you actually help them place bread on their own table...literally! And, they spend well over 22 hours in designing, meeting, and traveling for each wedding on average. So, a lot of detail work goes into each ceremony, and it one of the most important elements to making a beautiful day even more special.
Why does the Roman Church not allow weddings outside of a church? Do you permit weddings outside of a parish setting? The Roman Catholic Church recognizes Roman Catholics marrying in an outdoor setting as celebrating a legal marriage, but not necessarily a sacramental marriage. This is primarily due to a long history of 'custom' rather than any particular true religious or sacramental reasoning. And, it is nearly impossible to perform a Nuptial Mass in an outdoor setting. Therefore, since historically most weddings contained the Mass, the custom was easily enforced. But today, most couples do not avail themselves of the Mass and, therefore, any setting is truly usable. But, the Roman Church has insisted on holding to an ancient custom, over accommodating the couple on their special day. We believe that God is everyone where we are gathered in His name. Therefore, our priests have the endorsement of the bishop to performed a valid and sacramental wedding ceremony outside of the confines of the parish setting. However, when a couple wishes to hold a Nuptial Mass, we would honor their request within the the traditional parish venue.
Fees for Pre-Cana and Marriage Counseling Services: There are no mandatory fees associated with our program, but a free-will offering to the parish is always encouraged to help us offset the time of our staff, priests, and parish community resources. Our priests do not earn a salary at the parish so your donation helps them to meet their expenses.
Why is a deposit required?Why do you charge a non-refundable deposit to hold a date? We charge a deposit donation to the parish to hold a date because, otherwise, other couples may come along and book their wedding on your preferred date and time. Only when a deposit is made, can a date be blocked out in our calendars for you. The best way to secure your wedding, is to choose a date and wedding package, then pay the required non-refundable deposit to the parish, which varies by package. When you do this, you will have held a date, and booked a package with its price frozen from the date the deposit was made. The donation deposit is non-returnable because even if you cancel your date, we most likely lost other wedding couples during the time the date was held. If you release a date where a deposit was held, and we book another wedding, we will refund the amount of your donation at our discretion.
Why are there fees for a Priest to perform my Wedding? Our parish priests do not take a salary from their ministry work in order to help us grow and remain stable. Therefore, they actually earn a living by helping couples like you have a beautiful ceremony! When you give them the requested stipend, along with any travel expenses and optional gratuity, you actually help them place bread on their own table...literally! And, they spend well over 22 hours in designing, meeting, and traveling for each wedding on average. So, a lot of detail work goes into each ceremony, and it one of the most important elements to making a beautiful day even more special.
Are there any restrictions to the types of ceremonies you will perform? We believe that this is your special day and will make every effort to accommodate your ceremony requests. However, as Catholic clergy, we will not perform any rituals or ceremonies that may violate our tenets of beliefs, Creeds, or instructions of our Church or See. This primarily means that we must always begin with some form of an invocation and end with a blessing. Any ceremony that intentionally avoids the use of 'God', 'Jesus', 'Christ', 'Holy Spirit' and thereby makes the ceremony devoid of a Higher Power will most likely not be compatible with our belief system and deemed to secular. While we are not required to use all of these terms, we must endeavor to ensure that our belief in God is maintained. In the past, we have accommodated many couples - of all faith traditions - and even a few who had limited beliefs. In each instance we were able to find a way to accommodate them and are always willing to try to reach an understanding.
Our parish believes that couples should have the option of engaging pre-marraige counseling sessions known as Marriage PREP. Marriage rates are declining worldwide, and we all know that a full half of all marriages end in divorce. It is essential that we do all we can to promote healthy, happy, permanent relationships.
Overall, marriage reduces the likelihood of illness, both mental and physical, and speeds recovery from trauma. Parents in a healthy marriage are a protective factor against childhood risky behavior and model kindness and respect for children's relationships. The home is the center for teaching children values. The Church is the center of all life. With this in mind, we offer two approaches to marriage preparation, encouraging our couples to discuss a broad range of important topics can help them understand the meaning of their union, discover their individual styles, and learn communication and conflict resolution skills that will enhance their lifelong relationship. These options are found in our Marriage PREP Classes. We welcome your inquiry. A free-will offering may be given to the priest for their time.
Service Times:
Rosary Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. | Mid-Week Service, Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday Mass, 10:30 a.m
Special Masses, Holy Days of Obligation on Holidays, See Our Schedule Under Services.
Address:
475 Norristown
Road
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422
