Church not allowing weddings until 2022

[Summerflowers79]

A church I have enquired with to get married at for June 2021 have advised me that due to coronavirus it is impossible for them to hold weddings neither this year nor the next.
Does this seem odd? Or is this a sign of things to come? I’m fearing for my 2021 wedding.

Could it be that they’re not taking new bookings for next year due to the number that will have to postpone till next year

I feel like they would have said that if that was the case, but they said it was impossible for them to hold weddings next year due to coronavirus.

Are either you or your dp regular members of the congregation?

No it’s a Catholic Church abroad.

Yes it seems a bit odd because no-one is really predicting the shape of regulations that far ahead.

So I doubt they’ve had any sort of instruction that there can be none; more likely that they’ve decided for themselves they’re not setting new dates until they know they can go ahead, and whether there need to be any precautions around the service (eg numbers admitted). And perhaps also giving those whose 2020 plans were postponed first crack at setting dates when it opens up?

It does seem odd but maybe they are prioritising next year for all of the weddings that can’t go ahead this year (or perhaps they have all already been moved to next year). If it’s a popular church, it could well be booked up a long way in advance.

Your an overseas "visitor". I imagine they'll keep the dates available for their own congregation, and other locals.

It will be unusual. Tell them you're pregnant or something.

More seriously, they should be able to have small weddings with just witnesses.
If you're looking to having a bigger wedding then I'm not surprised they're saying no.

What's your motivation to get married there?

If it's a very popular church and you don't even live in the country. They may just not want you to get married there. So are trying to put you off.

I don’t think it’s a popular church. It’s not in a tourist spot, it’s in a small sleepy village. I’m getting married in the country because my partner’s family are from the country, though not in this church parish.

So why not try your partner's family's parish church? Or isn't it as photogenic??

The church we chose is near the venue we chose which is not too far from the airport and where guests will be staying. We tried our best to find a compromise for our guests flying in as well as my partner’s family. In terms of being photogenic, I suppose their local parish church would be more photogenic than what we have chose, but we are trying to keep it convenient for my family too.

I'm not surprised a small sleepy village doesn't want a bunch of people descending on them with covid still going around.

I certainly wouldn't be committing to anything within the next couple of years.

I suspect you'll have to manage your expectations in terms of size of the wedding party and venue.

I'd recommend you hold it close to your home or his family and with few people.

Things might improve soon and they may change their mind, but sleepy villages tend to have mostly elderly residents who aren't keen on dying.

There is only going to be 30 of us. I’m not even sure we will fill half the church.

Honestly I think it's because you will be a scary foreigner bringing extra people over during a pandemic and they're just trying to put you off them!

OK thank you. As really the point of this thread was do you think this is a sign that churches aren’t going to allow any weddings to go ahead until 2022.

It’s impossible to say, because we do not know what country you are talking about

I agree with posters who think your in-laws local church is far more likely to say ‘yes’ than a place to which you are wholly unconnected

Thank you

Churches will allow weddings. Priests and vicars wouldn't want parishioners living in sin. 😉
But they won't be keen on destination weddings no matter the reasons.

Churches will be very keen to start wedding ASAP. It's a major source of income!