Wedding Day Guidelines

These guidelines detail the logistics of having a wedding at Saint Peter.   To reserve a date and time, couples must begin the Catholic Church’s six month marriage preparation requirements and submit a $750 deposit.

WEDDING DATE AND TIME (Fee: $1500 - $750 to reserve date + $750 before wedding day)

• Visit the church calendar to explore date and time availability. Weddings must avoid existing mass, confession, and other sacramental activities in the church and there may be liturgical limitations on certain days during holy seasons. Exact days, times, and limitations can be discussed with the priest in your first meeting.
• It is imperative to start the ceremony on time. Weddings that begin more than 15 minutes after the scheduled time may be limited to a marriage ceremony only (no mass) and post ceremony photos may not be permitted.
• Do not hold receiving lines at the church due to time constraints.
• Deviations from stated fees due to special circumstances should be discussed at the couples’ first meeting with the Saint Peter’s priest.

REHEARSAL DATE AND TIME

• Rehearsals are limited to 45 minutes on the Friday before the wedding. Start times are between 4pm and 6pm.
• Allow for rush-hour traffic and parking restrictions, especially during Washington Nationals baseball home games.
• Bring your marriage license to the rehearsal (or you may opt to deliver it to the rectory in advance).
• Let your visiting priest know of time and parking restrictions (if applicable).

PLANNING THE CEREMONY

Couples must personally plan their ceremony directly with a Saint Peter’s priest and the Music Director. Saint Peter Church priests and staff will not communicate with wedding planners, parents, or other outside parties.

Celebrant and Readings

• The priest will guide the couple in selecting readings, prayers, and other elements (the liturgy).
• Should the couple wish to invite a family or guest priest to celebrate, Saint Peter’s Pastor must grant official delegation for visiting clergy, and the guest priest must obtain a letter of suitability from their diocese and have it sent to Saint Peter’s pastor prior to the wedding day.
• The District of Columbia requires officiants be authorized by the Court. For details, visit the District of Columbia’s web site at dccourts.gov/services/marriage-matters.
• A “Unity Candle” is not permitted at Saint Peter’s. An appropriate place for a Unity Candle is at your wedding reception, when you will share your first meal as a married couple. Lighting the candle just before the dinner blessing is a lovely way to acknowledge the presence of God at the beginning of your married life in the breaking of bread with family and friends.

Music (Fees: $550+)

• A minimum of a cantor and organist is required.
• Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., three months in advance of the wedding day to arrange music and prepare the wedding day program. The Music Director’s fee ($300) includes the consultation, the prelude, and wedding music; it is required regardless of guest singers or musicians.
• Please do not make any arrangements with singers or musicians, including family members and friends, without speaking to Saint Peter’s Music Director.
• The Music Director will arrange for singers and instrumentalists familiar with the church and its acoustics.
  • Organist/Music Director* $300* (payable directly to the Music Director)
  • Cantor/Singer $250   (payable directly to singer)
  • Other Musicians                 $250 + per (consult Music Director)
• Fees do not include the wedding rehearsal.
• All musician fees are due one week prior to the wedding.
• Pay musicians directly via check or VENMO. Do NOT pay Saint Peter’s. Please coordinate with the Music Director for musician information.
• Sacramental guidelines state that no secular music, including popular music and “love songs” may be played or sung before, during, or after the wedding.

DRESS CODE

• The bride and wedding party dresses should be appropriate for the holiness of the sacrament. For example, deep plunges at the chest, exposed navels, or other see-through features from the chest to the knees are not appropriate.
• Strapless dresses or bare shoulders are only permitted when a jacket, bolero, sweater, or “shrug” is worn over it in the church. A wedding veil, regardless of length, is not sufficient coverage.
• There is no dressing/waiting room for the bridal party. Please arrive ready for the ceremony or contact a nearby venue for space like the Capitol Hill Hotel located across the street from the church.

FLORISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, VIDEOGRAPHERS

DON’Ts:

• Do not use any aisle runners, tacks, adhesives, or any other materials that could cause damage inside the church or on the church doors.
• Do not use or move the alabaster urns; these historical urns from the original 1890 church are extremely fragile.
• Do not remove any seasonal or liturgical decorations in the church.
• Do not use flower petals, confetti, rice, bubbles, or birdseed inside or outside the church. This includes the main entrance stairs to all three doors and adjacent sidewalks.

DOs:

• Do confirm with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. when the church is available prior to and after the wedding for decorations and photos. Timing will depend on regular mass, confession, and other sacramental activities planned in the church that day.
• Connect vendors/family with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to examine the space ahead of time or get pictures.
• Tell florists to call the rectory a few days in advance of the wedding to verify access to the church on the wedding day – sacramental activities change regularly.
• Place flowers on the church’s two moveable pedestals normally placed on either side of the altar.
• Use the eye hooks in the middle of the doors to attach wreaths.
• Share the cost of flowers if there is another wedding the same day; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to facilitate.
• Consider leaving altar flowers in the church after the wedding. This is a Catholic custom representing your new family to the greater parish community attending weekend masses and honoring Jesus present in the Eucharist.
• Ask all vendors and family to remove all trash from the church, hall, and sacristy such as flower boxes, programs, program boxes, and film canisters in plenty of time for any sacramental activities following the wedding. For example, 2pm weddings should be completely cleared of the church by 3:45pm in preparation for 4pm confessions.

Photographers and Videographers

• No flash photography
• No more than two video cameras
• No additional microphones may be taped or placed in the Church without permission from the priest prior to ceremony
• No plugging into or altering the church sound system rack.
• No video editing equipment is permitted in the Church.
• No one is allowed between the front pews and the altar, behind the altar, or in the sanctuary area (raised step area in front of church).
• Permissions to use the choir loft can be obtained from organist on the day of the wedding.
• Do not interfere with or distract from the sanctity of the liturgy (service) and sacrament, including:
  • Do not block guests’ view of the ceremony
  • Do not take photos from conspicuous positions like next to the priest, bridal party, or front of the center aisle. Please use zoom and other features to discreetly capture important moments from further back in the church.
  • Tripods should not be placed in pews, in front of pews, or in aisles during the distribution of the Eucharist, processional, or recessional.
  • Photographers should be mindful of movements to avoid distracting from the sacrament.

PARKING, RESTROOMS, ACCESIBILITY

• An elevator to the church is accessible at street level on 2^nd street through the nearest gate on the left-hand side of the church entrance.
• Restrooms are located one floor below the church (“the church hall” or “hall”), accessible via the elevator (left hand side of church entryway) or staircase (back right of the church). These are small restrooms designed in the 1940s. They are not sufficient as a dressing room. Though they are handicap accessible, full wheel chair accessibility in a stall may be challenging.
• THERE IS NO PARKING LOT. On-street parking is available surrounding the church – please read city parking signs carefully.
• The Capitol South Metro station (Blue/Orange/Silver line trains) is one block from the church.
• Obtaining “No Parking” signs to reserve street parking must be done directly with the C. Department of Transportation.

For additional questions email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..