St. Paul Catholic Church 

Marriage Prep 

($100 Administrative Fee) 

Marriage Preparation steps in regular cases. Time for prep is from 6-12 months. 

1. Complete four “steps”: 

A.  Prenuptial Questionnaire – Completed at first meeting 

B.  Prepare and Enrich (online survey followed by conversation with the priest) - *cost $35 per person 

C.  Natural Family Planning Class – An introduction to the NFP course is required, but a full method is preferred. Your parish may have either or both available to you. 

(https://www.austindiocese.org/Natural-Family-Planning) 

-Vitae Fertility offers the online NFP class every third Wednesday (https://www.vitaefertility.com/nfp-talk-marriage-prep/) 

-AFCC (Austin FertilityCare Center) Online Zoom course. Available in Spanish.

The fee is $50. A certificate of attendance is issued when both attend. (https://www.austinfcc.org/registration/)  

 D. In-Person Retreat, Online Retreat, or Meet with a Mentor Couple 

    (main content of marriage prep, several options) 

1.In Person Retreat – offered at different places in the diocese 

1. St. John Neumann – March and October 
2. Other parishes – throughout the year 
3. San Jose – typically March and October 
4. St. Paul – typically March or April and September or October 
5. St. Catherine of Siena (will be 4/classes in a month) 

2. Online Retreat - https://www.catholicmarriageprep.com/ 

3. Meet 5 times with a mentor couple 

E. Freedom to marry affidavit (4x total; 2 for the bride, 2 for the groom) 

2. Sacramental Documents 

• Recent annotated baptismal certificate (issued within 6 months before the wedding) (If not Catholic, we will need a copy of the original baptism certificate.) 
• First Communion certificate (if not annotated on baptism certificate) 
• Confirmation certificate (if not annotated on baptism certificate) 

3. Other Documents 

• Marriage license from county or copy of civil marriage license, if convalidating - *cost varies depending on county (can get a discount with a certificate stating how many hours of marriage prep have been completed; get this from Lisa Morgan) 
• Permission letter from bride’s parish (if she lives outside St. Paul parish territory) 

4. Information Needed: 

• Place, Date/Time of Wedding 
• Name and address of the place of the wedding 
• Name and address of the diocese where the wedding will occur 
• Name of the performing clergy 
• Names of the two witnesses for the day of the wedding 

We may need additional documents depending on the situation. 

If the wedding takes place within the Diocese of Austin but not at St Paul, we need to complete the prep six weeks in advance, 2 ½ months in advance if out of the Austin Diocese, and 3 ½ months in advance if it is in another country. 

The Diocese of Austin has more resources at https://austindiocese.org/marriage 

Other Helpful Website - https://www.foryourmarriage.org/ 

Lisa Morgan 512-751-2387 

Lizbeth Villegas 512-300-5216 

marriage@saintpaulaustin.org 

Deadline for getting all your paperwork together is:

(Updated 6-19-2024)