INFORMATION FORM

Couples interested in being married at the Cathedral should first contact our wedding coordinator, Charlotte Danelian, by email

She will forward wedding guidelines, financial expectations, and an information form to you. If both of you have read our guidelines and financial expectations carefully and believe that you can work within them, you should fill out our information form and return it by email, fax, or post in order to proceed with plans. Upon receipt of the form, our wedding coordinator will contact you to arrange a conference for you with a member of our clergy staff.

CONFERENCE WITH CLERGY
Before a wedding can be scheduled and officially placed on the Cathedral calendar, both the bride and groom are required to have a conference with a member of the clergy staff. It is preferable to do this in person; if this is not possible, it can be done over the phone. Wedding coordinator, Charlotte Danelian, helps to arrange these conferences; please contact her by email

Please remember that the Cathedral is a large and complex parish with many requests for weddings, and it may take some time to get an appointment with a member of the clergy staff. Please be patient.

DEPOSIT
Once you have completed your first conference with a member of the clergy staff, your initial contribution to the Cathedral (250€) is required in order to place your wedding on the parish calendar. This contribution serves as a deposit to reserve your date and time on our calendar. This check should be made payable to “The American Cathedral” and may be fully tax deductible (please check with your tax advisor). The remaining contributions and honoraria must be paid in full no later than two weeks before your wedding; you will be alerted to this date as soon as your wedding date is finalized. (Please see “Minimum Financial Expectations for Weddings” page.)

CATHEDRAL REQUIREMENTS
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, popularly known as The American Cathedral in Paris, is the mother church and Cathedral for the Convocation of American Churches in Europe. The Convocation is part of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and thus part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We are bound by all canons (laws) of the Episcopal Church and thus the following standards apply:

a) Counseling
The primary requirement for a wedding ceremony in any Episcopal Church, and most other mainline churches, is that appropriate premarital counseling takes place. Generally, the Cathedral expects that the couple will participate in at least three formal sessions of premarital counseling with a clergy person or qualified counselor. You may work out the details of your counseling arrangements when you meet with our clergy; the counseling can be done either in Paris or through a parish closer to your home. If your counseling is done elsewhere, our clergy will need a letter stating that your priest or counselor finds you duly prepared for Holy Matrimony. A clear understanding of the commitment to Christian marriage and to the importance of the Church in your daily life is assumed.

b) Baptism & Church Life
It is required that one of you is a baptized Christian, and it is our hope that you are already involved in a Church community. It doesn’t have to be an Episcopal Church, but we do hope that you have already found a church home and that your marriage is in the context of your involvement with and commitment to a faith community. We hope that if you are serious about inviting the Church to be a part of your wedding day, you intend to make the Church a substantive part of your life.

c) Remarriage
If either the bride or the groom has been divorced, you need to know that the Episcopal Church takes divorce very seriously. In most cases, at least a full year has to have passed since the final divorce decree, and a copy of that decree needs to be presented before remarriage. Further, adequate provision for the welfare of children from a previous marriage needs to be assured. Additionally, the Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe will need to grant the final approval for the remarriage upon the recommendation of a member of our clergy staff. This requires extra paperwork and usually takes several weeks.

SERVICE
Since we are an Episcopal Church, the order of service used for marriages is that in the Book of Common Prayer. Readings can be chosen from the options outlined in the Book of Common Prayer in consultation with the clergy member officiating at your ceremony. Marriage services may or may not include a Eucharist; this can also be determined in consultation with your officiant. Clergy from other denominations are welcome to assist in the service. French and/or English may be used. Friends and relatives may be invited to participate as readers, in consultation with the clergy. We require that all service plans are finalized by eight weeks before your wedding.

LEGAL MARRIAGE
By French law, no couple can be married in a church in France unless they have first been married by the state in a civil ceremony. This can be done by a local “Mairie” in Paris or by a Justice of the Peace in a civil ceremony in your country. If you are US or UK citizens, the latter is easier and more convenient. Please look into the time frame and requirements for civil marriage in your country early to avoid difficulty, since we cannot perform your marriage ceremony at the Cathedral without proof of legal marriage. A copy of your legal marriage certificate is due in the Cathedral office by no later than the Monday before your wedding.

SPACE USAGE
Our premises will be available to you, your party, and your guests no earlier than thirty minutes before your ceremony. We do not have facilities for changing, make-up, etc. Therefore, you must arrive at the Cathedral prepared for the service.

PHOTOGRAPHY
No photography (still or video) is allowed during the marriage service. The celebration and blessing of a marriage in the Episcopal Church is in the nature of a sacrament. It is not a social event. There must be absolutely no photographs taken, with or without flash, during the service. Once the music begins, photography must stop. Photography is allowed before and after the service, and couples are invited to use our picturesque courtyard for their photographs.

MUSIC
All music is provided by the Cathedral organists, choir, and/or soloists and must be arranged in consultation with our Organist & Choirmaster. Our general policy is that music is considered appropriate for weddings here if it could also be used for Sunday morning services. In most cases, music provided would include: a 10-12 minute prelude, processional music, a communion solo (if applicable), hymn(s), and a recessional. If more music is required, please request our list of music possibilities and prices. We request that pre-recorded music (cassette tape or compact disc) not be considered. The Organist & Choirmaster does not normally attend wedding rehearsals, but his participation in a rehearsal can be requested in special circumstances.

SERVICE BULLETINS
Our office staff can prepare and duplicate a service bulletin for your wedding in consultation with the officiating clergy and the wedding coordinator. Our wedding coordinator can send you a sample bulletin at your request. Bulletins can be prepared in English, French, or both. Couples are also welcome to prepare their own service bulletins, but these must be developed in consultation with the officiating clergy member and approved by him.

FINAL PAYMENT
All contributions are due in the Cathedral office at least two weeks before your wedding. You will be alerted to your final payment deadline when your wedding date is finalized.

TIMING
All services must start on time. Generally, all weddings will begin on time whether all members of the wedding party and families are present or not. We cannot delay the start of a wedding to wait for anyone. If the bride or groom is more than fifteen minutes late, the wedding is subject to cancellation. In order to avoid such an embarrassing circumstance, it is essential that the bride and groom arrive at the Cathedral at the time appointed by the clergy in charge.

RICE, CONFETTI, AND BIRDSEED
No rice, confetti, birdseed, or anything else which will require clean-up is permitted either inside or outside the Cathedral.

FLOWERS
All wedding flowers are provided by the Cathedral’s Flower Guild. Arrangements are made directly with the chair of the Flower Guild, who can give you details on options and prices. Our wedding coordinator can put you in touch with him.

CANCELLATION
By canon law, the officiating clergy may refuse to do any wedding for any reason. Further, weddings may be canceled at any time by the officiating clergy should the couple fail to honor these guidelines. If the cancellation is due to the failure of the couple to honor Cathedral guidelines, there will be no refund on contributions made.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions that are not answered here, please contact our wedding coordinator.