Arrange a Wedding

“As you know, you are about to enter into a union which is most sacred and most serious, a union which was established by God himself…requiring of those who enter into it a complete and unreserved giving of self.” (Exhortation before marriage, taken from the Old Roman Ritual)

The Church takes seriously its commitment to you and the process of preparing you for this wonderful sacrament. This is evidenced by the Church’s desire to provide a meaningful preparation to those seeking to exchange their vows within the Catholic Church.

For a wedding to be celebrated in the Diocese of Rockford, both individuals must be at least 19 years of age at the time of the wedding.  In addition, in order to be married at the Newman Catholic Student Center, the bride, groom, or a parent must be a registered parishioner at Christ the Teacher University Parish or a student at NIU.  Preparation for a Catholic wedding ceremony takes place in steps over a period of at least six months. These steps are outlined below. If you have any questions, please contact the parish office, officemanager@newmanniu.org.

Newman Catholic Student Center also has a wedding coordinator to help you with your plans.  The Newman wedding coordinator will not only meet with you to walk you through the basic planning for your wedding, but will assist at the rehearsal and the day of the wedding.  Among other things, the wedding coordinator will meet with you to help choose the readings and answer questions, will be at the rehearsal, and will be at the church before your wedding takes place to accept flowers, show bridal party where to dress, and assist the priest in preparing for the wedding. 

Complete the Following Form:

Wedding Preparation Initial Form

After filling out this form and meeting with a priest, with him you'll be able to confirm your wedding date. He'll also walk you through the marriage prep process, from preparing yourselves to the details of the ceremony itself.

If you've met with the priest and with him been able to set the wedding date, you can then register for the marriage preparation course here. While taking part of this course, you'll continue to meet with the priest a few times.

During which, you can fill out the ceremony detail forms below:

Readings, Rehearsal and Bridal Party
Music Choices for Wedding

List of Scripture Options
View Photography, Flower, et al Guidelines

With the wedding getting closer, the wedding rehearsal usually takes place at 6:00 pm the day before the wedding date.  Please schedule the time with the priest or wedding coordinator when you have finalized the wedding date.

If you would like to use the Knox Community Room to hold your Rehearsal Dinner, please contact Michaela McMahon at officemanager@newmanniu.org to reserve the room.  To use this room, you would need a Certificate of Liability from your homeowners insurance company naming Christ the Teacher University parish as an additional insured to cover any injury or accident that may occur.  If you plan on serving alcohol, you would need an additional Liquor Liability Insurance certificate.

The entire wedding party, parents of the bride and groom, and all others involved in the liturgy (readers, gift bearers, etc.) should be in attendance.  This is an opportunity to walk through the ceremony and have any questions or concerns answered.

Since the Church is a holy place, please use the highest form of respect when present.  Please make your wedding party aware of this expectation prior to arriving at the church.  No food, gum, or beverage is allowed in the church, and men should remove hats/ball caps, etc.  Alcohol and illegal drugs are not permitted on the Newman Center grounds.  If these requests are ignored, the wedding will not proceed.

View Photography, Flowers and Other Church Guidelines

Use this payment schedule to assist you when you are paying fees. Please make each check payable to the appropriate person. Checks are due in the Newman office on the Monday before the scheduled wedding.

A payment schedule is included below for your convenience.  The clean-up deposit will be refunded to you after the wedding coordinator has ensured that everything from your wedding has been picked up (trash, ribbons, bows, etc.); we will shred the check unless you provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return.

Newman Catholic Student Center:  $200
Refundable Clean-up Deposit:  $100
Priest Presider: $150 (suggested offering) 
Musicians: Contact Music Director
Wedding Coordinator: $125.00