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Marriage

Contact:
Parish Office
​parishoffice@stmarysl.org
616- 842-1702
​

MARRIAGE
Marriage is a beautiful gift through which a man and a woman become a living sign of God's covenant of love with humanity. If one or both of the spouses is a baptized Catholic this sacrament must be celebrated in a church in the presence of a priest or deacon in order to be considered valid unless special permission is obtained from the bishop.
It is important that as much time and effort go into the preparation needed to live out this lifelong covenant as will go into planning the ceremony and the celebration, therefore a minimum of six months preparation is required per Diocesan requirements.
Please contact the parish office as soon as possible after your engagement to schedule a meeting with Dave Heinert to begin the process of preparation. Email Dave at  dheinert@stmarysl.org  or call him at the parish office at 616-842-1702. Completion of a Pre-Cana seminar is also required.  These are offered once a year by St. Mary's.  Other Pre-Cana opportunities are offered by the Diocese of Grand Rapids and can be found by clicking here.
Absolutely no wedding dates may be set without the approval of the pastor in order to make sure that there are no restrictions or other issues which need to be resolved.