Marriage blessed

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My daugher-in-law is wanting to become Catholic and is going to RCIA. She was told my son and her had to have their marriage blessed before she could get her sacraments. They are wanting $200 for preparations and $100 for the decan. They do not have that kind of money. Is their a fee to get a wedding blessed?
 
It is typical that there is some sort of fee for the preparation process, it varies by parish and diocese as to what that entails. There is also typically an offering for the sacrament, either for the parish or the priest/deacon.

However, no one is to be denied the sacraments based on inability to pay for the preparation materials or give an offering. So, they need to speak up and talk to their deacon and explain their situation.

They should give what they can as an offering-- even if it’s $5. As for the prep fees, they need to ask for them to be waived.
 
Speak to the priest or deacon directly about their financial difficulty in paying those amounts–a church secretary or other staff will often not be able to make a decision about these things, and possibly may not even know if there are other options, and if the priest or deacon is not aware of the situation, he is probably going to assume that it’s not a problem. Generally (in the local Catholic parishes here, at least), what may be called “fees” are really suggested donations, not a set price. Most people try to make a donation of the suggested amount as they are able; some give more, some less.

That said, we do have some 18 weeks before Easter (of course it depends on when exactly the marriage validation/blessing would take place), so would they be able to set aside a little money each week to make a donation that is similar to that amount? And if you had planned to give them a gift for their validation ceremony (and/or her a gift upon entering the Church), perhaps you could help out with the fee/donation instead?

Just my thoughts.
 
My wife and I had ours blessed the day after our 15th anniversary last month. The Priest did it during a daily Mass. No fees or anything were discussed- he came to our house a few weeks before and did the paperwork over supper. We gave him a Thank You card with some cash in it after Mass.

Now, our Parish is somewhat small (350 people) and we have been faithful members for the last few years. Maybe he does discuss “donations” with new members or people he doesn’t know well. Having it blessed during daily Mass may be another reason that it wasn’t discussed. It’s not like he had to make an extra trip to the Church, etc.

God Bless- hope this helps some.
 
You don’t even have to have a big deal type ceremony. In our parish the priest did one in 15 minutes in the chapel with only the couple and two witnesses. Since they were married for a number of years they didn’t go through a preparation. We never ask for a specific amount for convalidations unless they want a big wedding with music and a mass. Usually the couple does give a donation for a simple convalidation.
 
omegapd said:
My wife and I had ours blessed the day after our 15th anniversary last month. The Priest did it during a daily Mass. No fees or anything were discussed- he came to our house a few weeks before and did the paperwork over supper. We gave him a Thank You card with some cash in it after Mass.

Now, our Parish is somewhat small (350 people) and we have been faithful members for the last few years. Maybe he does discuss “donations” with new members or people he doesn’t know well. Having it blessed during daily Mass may be another reason that it wasn’t discussed. It’s not like he had to make an extra trip to the Church, etc.

God Bless- hope this helps some.
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There is a difference between a blessing and a convalidation.
 
We had our marriage convalidated almost 3 years ago. We met with our priest a few times and then had the ceremony a few weeks later. They never requested a specific donation, but we did give our priest a thank you card with cash in it. I didn’t know if the money would go to the priest personally or to the church so we gave cash so he could do with it as he saw fit.

Is your son in law Catholic? If neither was Catholic at the time they married then they shouldn’t need to go through the convalidation process.
 
powerlinemom said:
We had our marriage convalidated almost 3 years ago. We met with our priest a few times and then had the ceremony a few weeks later. They never requested a specific donation, but we did give our priest a thank you card with cash in it. I didn’t know if the money would go to the priest personally or to the church so we gave cash so he could do with it as he saw fit.

Is your son in law Catholic? If neither was Catholic at the time they married then they shouldn’t need to go through the convalidation process.
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It sounds like the son may have been Catholic and married outside of the Church. Either way they should talk to the priest and lay everything out on the table. Also has either of them been married before, in this case they may need to go through a process of decree of nullity to see if the previous marriages were valid if lack of form does not apply.
 
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