Dee Anne Hamer
Wedding Coordinator & Parish Accountant
Sacrament of Marriage
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.
For those seeking to be married at St. Charles
Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding! We are honored that you are considering St. Charles to celebrate the Holy Sacrament of Marriage. We are ready to assist you in your preparation for the sharing of these sacred vows.
Can we be married at St. Charles?
One or both of you must be a registered, practicing member of St. Charles in Hartland for at least one year or have a relationship with St. Charles before a wedding date may be scheduled. Also, it is important that you are involved in the sacramental life of the church such as attending weekly Mass and are living out your faith through volunteering for a church ministry. Members of other parishes wanting to celebrate this sacrament are by exception only and require a letter of parish membership and permission from your pastor.
How do I schedule my wedding?
You will need to meet with the pastor or the associate pastor before a date is set. While we know this poses some challenges in working with reception venues, this is the FIRST STEP. We will work with you as best as our schedule permits. Wedding Masses are typically held on Friday afternoons at 3:00 pm or on Saturdays at 2:00 pm. There are times in the liturgical year where we do not hold weddings, such as Advent and Lent.
If you have a civil marriage, we welcome you to have your marriage blessed with this sacred sacrament. We will work with you on this process, which is similar to our regular marriage preparation.
We invite you to fill out this interest form so we may get to know you and start this process. Please reach out to our Wedding Guide, Dee Anne Hamer, with any questions.
Other Special Blessings
Anniversaries
If you would like to celebrate a "milestone" wedding anniversary (10, 25, 40, or 50 years) by receiving a blessing at Mass, please contact our Liturgist, Beth Thompson, at 262-367-0800 or via email. Other wedding anniversaries will be celebrated at various points during the year.
Marriage Blessings
St. Charles also offers services to bless couples who were not married according to the rites of the Catholic Church. There are many different circumstances that could merit this, such as a couple being married at a civil ceremony or having a wedding outside of the Catholic Church.
Marriages where one spouse is not Catholic or in cases where the couple was married in a non-Catholic church without receiving the necessary dispensation from the Catholic Church would also qualify as a special circumstance. In some cases, one or both of the spouses had been married previously and were not at the time of the new marriage canonically free to marry again. These are not unique circumstances, nor is it unusual for such couples to ask the Catholic Church to fully recognize their marriage. We welcome all couples looking into this beautiful opportunity!
This process is known as convalidation. If you would like to have your marriage convalidated or would like more information, please contact the Parish Office at 262-367-0800 or by email to explore your situation.
Each couple’s circumstances differ and call for different procedures. The process of convalidating a marriage respects the needs of each couple as well as the teachings of the Catholic Church. Through it, the couple’s experience of married love is interpreted in new context, the paschal mystery, the pattern at the heart of every Christian marriage.
