This union, then, is most serious because it will bind you together for life in a relationship so close and so intimate, that it will profoundly influence your whole future. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its successes and its failures, its pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your eyes. You know that these elements are mingled in every life and are to be expected in your own. And so, not knowing that is before you, you take each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death.
– excerpt from The Exhortation Before Marriage
Your marriage is first and foremost a sacrament. Through your wedding vows, you will make known the loving presence of God as revealed through Christ and His Church.
Of primary importance is your commitment to each other and through the sacrament of marriage, you are “no longer two, but one flesh” (Mark 10:8).
St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica is a very active and vibrant community and we receive many requests from couples who wish to be married here. Please note the following:
- Those who live within our parish boundaries, where at least one of the parties is Catholic, have the right to be married in the Cathedral.
- Couples who do not live within the boundaries of the Cathedral must be registered and contributing to the mission of the Cathedral for a minimum of 2 years or demonstrate some prior personal or familial connection to the Cathedral. These cases will be reviewed by the Rector and must receive his approval before a date may be set.
To begin the process, please download and complete the Marriage Information Form and submit it via email to [email protected].
Please do not book a venue for your wedding reception until the date for your wedding has been set.
Archdiocesan guidelines require that the couple contact the parish at least one year in advance of the proposed date of the wedding. However, scheduling a date is still subject to the Rector’s discretion. Availability of dates at the Cathedral can be limited, due to other Archdiocesan events and celebrations, and by the volume of weddings that we have. In addition, adequate time must be allowed to meet the requirements for marriage. Many couples have booked the Cathedral a year or two in advance of their proposed wedding date.
At the first interview, the Priest will fill out the Prenuptial Inquiry by taking down your basic information and setting your wedding date. If you do not set a date at this meeting, the responsibility will be yours to follow up and ensure a wedding date has been set. Official forms for the wedding will be completed once a date for the wedding has been finalized.
Marriage Instruction
It is a requirement of the Archdiocese of Toronto that couples complete an approved marriage preparation program. At the end of the course couples will submit a certificate of completion.
There are several courses of instruction conducted each year in the Archdiocese of Toronto. You will be responsible for making your own arrangements with one of the following:
| Catholic Family Services * | 1155 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON, M4T 1W2 416-921-1163 |
| Catholic Engaged Encounter Our Lady of Lourdes Parish |
11 Earl Street, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1M4 416- 924- 6257 |
| Paulist Centre for Catholic Evangelization The Catholic Information Centre of Toronto |
830 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5R 3G1 416-534-2326 |
* Those who have been married before and/or those couples who are living together must take a specialized course at Catholic Family Services.
Form I – Acceptance of Wedding Conditions
This document must be signed in the presence of the Priest at your first interview, prior to booking your wedding date.
Proof of Baptism
Every Catholic being married must produce a current Record of Baptism, that is, one that has been issued within six months prior to the wedding date. The Church of Baptism should be contacted in due time so that you will have the certificate by the second interview (about 2 months before the wedding day).
If one of the parties wishing to be married is a baptized Christian, they must submit their baptismal certificate as well, although theirs can be an original copy.
Consent of Parents
If one of the parties wishing to be married is under the age of eighteen, written consent is required of the parents (or guardians).
Previous Marriage
- If a previous marriage existed and the former spouse is deceased, an authentic certificate or satisfactory proof of death of the spouse is required.
- If divorced, a copy of the previous marriage certificate, a copy of the divorce decree, and official confirmation from the proper ecclesiastical court with regard to the dissolution or nullity of the marriage is required.
Note: No wedding date will be booked until it is established that one or both parties is free to re-marry.