Marriage

There are about 20 weddings celebrated every year in the Christ Our Hope cluster.  By Archdiocesan policy, weddings on Saturdays may not be held later than 2:00pm.  If you are interested in celebrating your wedding in one of our parishes, please contact Fr. Nick March at 563-569-8259 during office hours (Tues. - Fri., 8 AM - 4:30 PM) or by e-mail. Download the cluster guidelines and checklists to help when planning your wedding.

The Christ Our Hope cluster wants to provide engaged couples with a marriage preparation program that is suited to their schedule and needs.  Engaged couples can choose one of the following options for their marriage preparation:

  • Option A:  Sponsor Couple Program – Engaged couples meet in the home of a trained sponsor couple from our cluster five or six times in the months prior to their wedding and once or twice after the wedding to discuss the workbook “For Better and For Ever” and to learn from the sponsor couple’s experience.
  • Option B: Pre-Cana – Engaged couples attend a two-day program that covers various areas important to marriage at one of the various locations in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
  • Option C: Engaged Encounter – Engaged couples attend a weekend retreat of learning and sharing at American Martyrs Retreat House in Cedar Falls.
  • Option D: M.A.T.T. -- Couples in which one or both have been married previously are encouraged to attend a one day event called Marrying and Trusting Together which addresses topics specific to second marriages at the American Martyrs Retreat House in Cedar Falls.


In addition to each of these options, each engaged couple is asked to fill out a FOCCUS questionnaire, a set of questions on a variety of marriage-related topics, and then meet with a sponsor couple to discuss the questionnaire.  If an engaged couple chooses Option A, the FOCCUS questionnaire will be discussed in conjunction with the discussion on the “For Better and For Ever” workbook.

After you have completed your marriage preparation program, please contact Fr. Nick to set up a time to meet with him to finalize the details of your wedding.