Marriage

The Church has witnessed countless couples standing before God to enter into the Sacrament of Matrimony. We are delighted to welcome any couple, who accept the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage, who wish to marry here and who both are free to do so.

If you would like to enquire about marriage at St Patrick's, please contact the Parish Office on 023 8044 8671 or at eastside@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk. 

If you live in our parish but seek to marry in a Catholic church elsewhere, please contact the Parish Office at least twelve months prior to your wedding taking place as there are a number of forms which need to be completed here in your home parish before your wedding can legally take place in a church outside of the parish in which you live. You cannot get married in the Catholic Church unless these forms are completed and sent by us to the church where you wedding is planned to take place, even if a date has provisionally been booked.

Ordinarily, all preparation for marriage is done in the parish where the Catholic party(ies) live. Our parish preparation for marriage involves the couple having several meetings with the priest assigned to officiate at their wedding. These meetings are to ensure all necessary documentation is complete and that the couple have a good understanding of the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage. They are complemented by further preparation provided by Marriage Care, an accredited organisation of the Catholic Church.

We do ask that ordinarily at least twelve months’ notice be given of a couple’s intention to marry here.