Weddings
Blessings!
First of all, let us offer you both our blessing in this exciting time for you. We are pleased and honored that you are considering Bellarmine Chapel as the location to celebrate this sacrament you are making with each other.
Bellarmine Chapel is open to couples for whom at least one of the parties seeking to marry is a confirmed Roman Catholic and a part of either the Bellarmine Chapel and/or the Xavier University community.
Civil weddings or weddings of other denominations of faiths that do not have a Catholic party are not permitted. The chapel cannot be “rented” for a wedding.
We normally schedule weddings at Bellarmine Chapel if either the bride or groom are:
- registered members of Bellarmine parish
- current full-time students at Xavier University
- recent graduates of Xavier University
(5 years ago, undergrad)
- faculty members of Xavier University
At least six months prior to your anticipated wedding date contact Kathy Kohl at 513-745-3376. Call even earlier if you can so that there is no rush during the months of preparation. Note: we hold many alumni weddings at the chapel and it tends to get booked long before the six month minimum time period.
Our wedding times are Saturdays at either 2:00 PM or 6:00 PM, with Friday evening rehearsals. We generally do not schedule weddings during Lent or Advent. The chapel and bridal room are available to bridal parties 2 hours before the wedding.
We can tentatively schedule a date for you, you will then have one month to fill out a Marriage Request Form and return it, along with your deposit, to confirm your wedding date.
The fee schedule is as follows:
$550 for Chapel usage and Liturgy Coordinator
$300 for Sacrament of Marriage preparation (if doing preparation at Bellarmine)
$450 stipend if using Bellarmine Music Minister and Cantor (paid separately). You are welcome to bring outside liturgical musicians, but they must have Catholic liturgy experience.
A $200 deposit is due one month after reserving the chapel; the remaining balance is due one week before your wedding.
Visiting musicians are allowed, however they must have liturgical music ministry experience and be approved by our Music Minister.
The chapel seats 450 people and is built in a theater-in-the round style.
Preparation Only
If you are holding your marriage ceremony elsewhere, but wish to take part in marriage preparation with Bellarmine Chapel staff, the fee is $300. This fee is due two months before your wedding. You will be asked to fill out a Preparation Request Form. If you are only doing FOCCUS through Bellarmine Chapel, the fee is $50.
Xavier Alumni
We ask alumni to invite a priest or deacon to preside at your wedding, whom our pastor will delegate as official witness. The presider you choose will also need to take part in the marriage preparation. We cannot be responsible for your preparation, or for presiding at your wedding. Ideally, the person working with you as the official witness and preparing you for marriage is someone one or both of you already have a relationship with.
We do encourage alumni to consider your own parish as the proper place for your wedding. That is where your faith life is nourished, that is the parish where your marriage is most appropriate.
Bellarmine Parishioners
Bellarmine parishioners are welcome to schedule an appointment with our pastor or invite a priest or deacon that you know to work with you for your marriage preparation and to be the official witness of the sacrament.
Marriage Preparation in general has 3 main components:
1) Sacramental Marriage Preparation (with the priest or a pastoral associate or deacon, depending on your parish) about the spirituality of marriage and its dignity as a sacramental way of life. This person will assist you in filling out the official paperwork, planning your liturgy, and attending to the next two components. The goal of liturgy planning is to prepare a ceremony that authentically expresses your love and your religious identity. We are happy to provide you a booklet with suggested readings, blessings, and other prayers. This will give you guidance in making your selections. This entire process can take around 3-4 sessions.
2) Attending an inventory program which encourages dialogue about the everyday life, joys and struggles of the Sacrament of Marriage. Bellarmine Chapel uses FOCCUS, which is a tool for communication in which you meet with a married couple in our community and talk to each other about your marriage in depth, facilitated by that couple who has real-life experience. This process generally begins about 5-6 months prior to your wedding. You should expect to schedule 3 sessions with your FOCCUS couple.
3) Attending an Archdiocesan-approved marriage preparation program, (either Pre-Cana or Engaged Encounter) with other couples in the Archdiocese. If you will be participating in a marriage preparation in another diocese, there are many comparable programs. Your preparer should be able to help you decide which programs are suitable in your diocese.
A good marriage preparation program will also include a follow-up of some sort. Here we have a “Young Couples” Series open to parish couples married 5 years or less.
If you have any questions about the marriage preparation guidelines for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati you may visit the Archdiocesan Family Life website; http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/ministries-offices/family-life/engaged-couple-programs/ or contact Kathy Kohl at Bellarmine Chapel; 513-745-3376, and she will be happy to help you.
Baptismal Certificates and Marriage License
Another thing you will need to do closer to your wedding date is request a newly-issued baptismal certificate from each of your churches of baptism. These should be requested within 6 months of your wedding. (For non-Catholics, a letter from your church of baptism is also acceptable.) If you are not doing your marriage preparation at Bellarmine, you should have these sent to the person who is preparing you.
Your marriage license can be obtained from Hamilton county Probate Court, within 60 days of your wedding. We suggest couples bring their license paperwork to the wedding rehearsal.
Music and Liturgy
Our Music Director is Brendan Hemmerle. You can contact him directly to check on his availability for your wedding at brendan.hemmerle@xavier.edu or 513-745-3270. You are encouraged to direct any questions regarding music for your wedding to Brendan. You may invite a music minister, but they must have experience playing at mass and abide by the Archdiocesan Guidelines for liturgical music. Brendan should be advised of visiting musicians.
If one of the parties is not a Roman Catholic, it is usually recommended that the ceremony be limited to the Liturgy of the Word and not include the Eucharist. In that way the unity that does exist between the couple and their families can be emphasized--rather than the differences of their faith traditions.
We look forward to serving you, and working with you at this exciting time in your life!
First of all, let us offer you both our blessing in this exciting time for you. We are pleased and honored that you are considering Bellarmine Chapel as the location to celebrate this sacrament you are making with each other.
Bellarmine Chapel is open to couples for whom at least one of the parties seeking to marry is a confirmed Roman Catholic and a part of either the Bellarmine Chapel and/or the Xavier University community.
Civil weddings or weddings of other denominations of faiths that do not have a Catholic party are not permitted. The chapel cannot be “rented” for a wedding.
We normally schedule weddings at Bellarmine Chapel if either the bride or groom are:
- registered members of Bellarmine parish
- current full-time students at Xavier University
- recent graduates of Xavier University
(5 years ago, undergrad)
- faculty members of Xavier University
At least six months prior to your anticipated wedding date contact Kathy Kohl at 513-745-3376. Call even earlier if you can so that there is no rush during the months of preparation. Note: we hold many alumni weddings at the chapel and it tends to get booked long before the six month minimum time period.
Our wedding times are Saturdays at either 2:00 PM or 6:00 PM, with Friday evening rehearsals. We generally do not schedule weddings during Lent or Advent. The chapel and bridal room are available to bridal parties 2 hours before the wedding.
We can tentatively schedule a date for you, you will then have one month to fill out a Marriage Request Form and return it, along with your deposit, to confirm your wedding date.
The fee schedule is as follows:
$550 for Chapel usage and Liturgy Coordinator
$300 for Sacrament of Marriage preparation (if doing preparation at Bellarmine)
$450 stipend if using Bellarmine Music Minister and Cantor (paid separately). You are welcome to bring outside liturgical musicians, but they must have Catholic liturgy experience.
A $200 deposit is due one month after reserving the chapel; the remaining balance is due one week before your wedding.
Visiting musicians are allowed, however they must have liturgical music ministry experience and be approved by our Music Minister.
The chapel seats 450 people and is built in a theater-in-the round style.
Preparation Only
If you are holding your marriage ceremony elsewhere, but wish to take part in marriage preparation with Bellarmine Chapel staff, the fee is $300. This fee is due two months before your wedding. You will be asked to fill out a Preparation Request Form. If you are only doing FOCCUS through Bellarmine Chapel, the fee is $50.
Xavier Alumni
We ask alumni to invite a priest or deacon to preside at your wedding, whom our pastor will delegate as official witness. The presider you choose will also need to take part in the marriage preparation. We cannot be responsible for your preparation, or for presiding at your wedding. Ideally, the person working with you as the official witness and preparing you for marriage is someone one or both of you already have a relationship with.
We do encourage alumni to consider your own parish as the proper place for your wedding. That is where your faith life is nourished, that is the parish where your marriage is most appropriate.
Bellarmine Parishioners
Bellarmine parishioners are welcome to schedule an appointment with our pastor or invite a priest or deacon that you know to work with you for your marriage preparation and to be the official witness of the sacrament.
Marriage Preparation in general has 3 main components:
1) Sacramental Marriage Preparation (with the priest or a pastoral associate or deacon, depending on your parish) about the spirituality of marriage and its dignity as a sacramental way of life. This person will assist you in filling out the official paperwork, planning your liturgy, and attending to the next two components. The goal of liturgy planning is to prepare a ceremony that authentically expresses your love and your religious identity. We are happy to provide you a booklet with suggested readings, blessings, and other prayers. This will give you guidance in making your selections. This entire process can take around 3-4 sessions.
2) Attending an inventory program which encourages dialogue about the everyday life, joys and struggles of the Sacrament of Marriage. Bellarmine Chapel uses FOCCUS, which is a tool for communication in which you meet with a married couple in our community and talk to each other about your marriage in depth, facilitated by that couple who has real-life experience. This process generally begins about 5-6 months prior to your wedding. You should expect to schedule 3 sessions with your FOCCUS couple.
3) Attending an Archdiocesan-approved marriage preparation program, (either Pre-Cana or Engaged Encounter) with other couples in the Archdiocese. If you will be participating in a marriage preparation in another diocese, there are many comparable programs. Your preparer should be able to help you decide which programs are suitable in your diocese.
A good marriage preparation program will also include a follow-up of some sort. Here we have a “Young Couples” Series open to parish couples married 5 years or less.
If you have any questions about the marriage preparation guidelines for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati you may visit the Archdiocesan Family Life website; http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/ministries-offices/family-life/engaged-couple-programs/ or contact Kathy Kohl at Bellarmine Chapel; 513-745-3376, and she will be happy to help you.
Baptismal Certificates and Marriage License
Another thing you will need to do closer to your wedding date is request a newly-issued baptismal certificate from each of your churches of baptism. These should be requested within 6 months of your wedding. (For non-Catholics, a letter from your church of baptism is also acceptable.) If you are not doing your marriage preparation at Bellarmine, you should have these sent to the person who is preparing you.
Your marriage license can be obtained from Hamilton county Probate Court, within 60 days of your wedding. We suggest couples bring their license paperwork to the wedding rehearsal.
Music and Liturgy
Our Music Director is Brendan Hemmerle. You can contact him directly to check on his availability for your wedding at brendan.hemmerle@xavier.edu or 513-745-3270. You are encouraged to direct any questions regarding music for your wedding to Brendan. You may invite a music minister, but they must have experience playing at mass and abide by the Archdiocesan Guidelines for liturgical music. Brendan should be advised of visiting musicians.
If one of the parties is not a Roman Catholic, it is usually recommended that the ceremony be limited to the Liturgy of the Word and not include the Eucharist. In that way the unity that does exist between the couple and their families can be emphasized--rather than the differences of their faith traditions.
We look forward to serving you, and working with you at this exciting time in your life!
