Marriage

Congratulations on your engagement! Your wedding is a wonderful, life-changing celebration, and your marriage is a holy vocation. Both deserve the utmost care and preparation. Our intention is to guide you through the process as smoothly as possible. Christ the King Church is available for Catholic weddings (Mass or non-Mass) with priority given to members of the parish and their children. If you or your fiance/fiancee are not Catholic and wish to become Catholic or learn more about the Faith, please contact our Office of Evangelization and Discipleship at (405) 843-4766.

Marriage is a covenant or partnership of life between a man and woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children. When validly contracted between two baptized people, marriage is a sacrament. (From Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Here are the six basic steps of the marriage preparation process in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City:

1. Initial Interview
Your first step in preparation for marriage is to notify the parish priest as soon as possible and set up a meeting with him for this initial interview.  This meeting should take place no later than six months prior to your proposed date of marriage.
 
2. Assessment Process
The priest will use, besides the information from the Initial Interview, other tools for assessment such as Archdiocesan forms, a pre-marriage evaluation, in some cases consultation with parents/relatives and, if needed, pre-marriage counseling and evaluation.  These will all be reviewed with you and a mutual decision will be reached.
 
3. Decision
For most couples, the assessment with the priest will lead to a mutual decision to proceed.  In those cases where a delay is indicated, special procedures will be worked out with the couple. 
 
4.  Establishing a Wedding Date
Until this point, your proposed wedding date has not been finalized. Now this date can be made definite.  With early contact with the priest, this still offers plenty of time to make arrangements for the wedding day. 
 
5. Instructional Program
After you have finalized the actual date of your wedding, the priest will outline the program that will be used to help you not only prepare for your wedding, but more importantly for the life of the marriage that will follow.  This program will often include a few meetings with the priest and participation in at least one of the marriage preparation program.  Your priest may also encourage you to attend training in Natural Family Planning.

6. Marriage Ceremony
Because your marriage is a sacrament, there are several things to keep in mind.  Our wedding coordinator, Kathy Arambula, will be able to answer all questions regarding your wedding rehearsal and wedding day. After you have finalized a date for your wedding, please contact her at the church office kathya@ckokc.org.   All sacraments are public ceremonies to the Church.  A wedding is a religious event, an act in which a man and a woman pledge themselves to each other before God.  Therefore, the appropriate place of the wedding is in the Church.  As a matter of policy, the Church will not give permission for weddings to take place in parks, yards, private homes or other such places.