Is it possible to have church marriage and not civil marriage?

Brianne said:
... I think that in pre divorce Ireland , if one was granted a church annulment, then in the eyes of the church , one was free to marry again in the Catholic church ..
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Not necessarily, and not necessarily in post-divorce Ireland.

The church lawyers might decide as a result of their investigations, having spoken to witnesses and taken testimony, that either or both parties are unsuited to or incapable of entering into a marriage contract.
 
Catherined , the simple answer to your question is No. My daughter recently started planning her wedding and the priest (catholic) gave her all the required civil forms she had to fill out . He explained to her that the church could not marry anyone until they received confirmation from the state that the couple was in fact free to marry. Gone are the days when the local priest (or minister) read the marriage banns at Sunday mass
 

Mathepac,my post states 'provided there were no impediments to further church marriage etc.

Is OP having a laugh? Does she think of the significance of a church wedding or is just looking for a day out? A practising catholic would think that the church wedding is the one of significance, or has she been going to too many bridal fairs? And if she is not a practising catholic , well is she just looking to have a fancy dress event in the right setting?
Maybe, she should try out a rabbi or a iman while she's at it.
 
If OP just wants the day out and wants friends etc to attend her 'wedding' why not have a fake wedding - she'll get her day out, her friends think she's married, nobody need know anything different except for bride and groom. Obviously you wouldn't be able to do this in a church but how about hiring a venue and an actor to carry out a fake 'civil ceremony'. Depends how much you want to have the wedding day or appear to be married.
 

Don't be putting more ideas in her head...
 
Don't get this - don't want to be legally hitched but want a wedding.... you say it's been a while since you've seen a priest yet still want to go through a church wedding????
Just throw a big party if that's what you're after....
 
Surprised by feedback. does it seem that silly to do that, why do people get married at all sure...isn't the main reason to show that you are committed to the other person, off the market, in love and that.

Maybe, and I don't know, but most of you are singles or married without history, there are little people in the picture on both sides and we live separately, so do the day to day living separately. we can do the whole hog thing when they grow up a bit and then we can be selfish, maybe in 10 years we could commit, the full monty, and all will be okay.

Why get married now? He is my bit of fluff and I wants him and wouldn't mind the show of commitment sooner than later. That's not a silly idea to me. It's all we can give each other at the moment.
 
actually you know, maybe a mock wedding is the way to go...a fake wedding, excellent idea...thanks guys....must google that.
 
Strange as it seems wasn't there a case about 10 years ago when a load of Irish people got married in Lourdes and were not married 'civily' and they had to bring in legislation to rectify it as they were not legally married.

OP be aware that if you do not marry legally neither of you have legal rights or more importantly as you specifically mention this you are not legally committed to each other. You may be married in the eyes of the Church but that's no good to you here on earth. Why don't you and he go to Vegas, get married in secret and keep it a secret for 10 years.
 


I though that was the whole point of what the op wanted
 
catherined said:
Surprised by feedback. does it seem that silly to do that, why do people get married at all sure...isn't the main reason to show that you are committed to the other person, off the market, in love and that.
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Thats a good question - why DO people get married? I thought it was about making a legally binding committment to each other - what do other people think?


If you love each other and wish to be married why not just do it and join both households?

catherined said:
Why get married now? He is my bit of fluff and I wants him and wouldn't mind the show of commitment sooner than later. That's not a silly idea to me. It's all we can give each other at the moment.
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If all you are after is a committment ceremony you could ask respected family members and friends to officiate at a ceremony for you two, stating the reasons you want to be together and good wishes etc.... A sort of series of blessings from close friends and family, call on people to say a few words, followed up by a ring exchange ceremony or something like that?

I mean I think a committment ceremony is a nice idea but I dont understand what the reasons are for not just getting married if you love each other and want to be together.

I also dont really get the idea of a fake wedding - why would you want people to think you are married if youre not really? Maybe Im missing something.
 


My reading of this is that OP wants her day out that's all - obviously doesn't want the legal/financial commitment but wants to be seen as being married in her friends eyes etc. Maybe I'm wrong here but I think she just wants to dress up for the day, feel special blah blah blah. I am assuming that she and boyfriend feel the same i.e don't want actual marriage - but they want their friends to think they are married??
 
I know of 2 couples who have done this - one for similar reasons to the OP, the other because one of the pair had been legally married (but not in church) before and was not yet divorced. In the case of the couple where one was not yet divorced (the "husband") most of the brides family and friends were and still are unaware that the wedding was church only with no civil component - bride is one of these types with airs and graces who would not like to admit to marrying someone who was married before and wanted to give her family & friends the impression that she is married.

The important thing to remember is that a church marriage is not a legal marriage. The couple cannot tick the "married" box in any state forms, claim tax credits, inheritance or any of the other rights of legally married people.

Though in most cases, Church weddings an Civil weddings are done simultaneously at the same venue, they are not the same. The State only recognises the Civil component.

Strange as it seems wasn't there a case about 10 years ago when a load of Irish people got married in Lourdes and were not married 'civily' and they had to bring in legislation to rectify it as they were not legally married.
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France is one of a number of countries where you are not allowed have a simultaneous Civil and Church wedding. Couples in France have to go to the Registry Office for a separate ceremony if they want the marriage legally recognised. Something all couple marrying abroad have to watch out for - just because you arrange a priest and church and sign some fancy forms in a foreign language, it does not mean that you are legally married - this is the reason why most get married in a quiet civil ceremony in Ireland before departing.
 


This relates to if the Civil and Church part of the wedding is abroad. As with the majority of people would have a civil ceremony in their home country to be legally bound under the law of that country.

We had our civil ceremony here in Ireland and church ceremony in Italy. The Bishop of the town in Italy needed proof of a civil ceremony. Aparently this is also quite common.
 
I predict that in c.50 years time there will be a load of inheritance and probate cases involving spouses and children of Irish people who "married" abroad but were unaware that church weddings abroad have no legal standing and that they or their parents were not legally married.
 
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