[SnoopyGirl]

My husband-to-be and I are both from Irish Catholic families, so no major religion differences exist. But we are having difficulties securing a church for our wedding. We understand that pre-marriage counseling is required and have a family priest who can offer that when we next visit my family. It is the financial requirement that has us most confused about the process.

Before relocating to be closer to him, I attended Mass with my family. My husband-to-be is less active in the church, but still attends for holidays or when he visits his family. We currently don't live near a Catholic church, making it hard to attend Mass these days. For this reason, we don't have a regular parish, just the occasional Sunday at the local college's church. In selecting a church for our ceremony, we considered two churches in the town where he grew up (not where we live now). I thought it would be a nice way to start things off with his family, but am now learning that most of my friends won't be able to make the trip. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make (especially knowing fewer guests costs less) until I found out that his family parish charges $800 to use the church for our ceremony. Is this customary? I was under the impression that suggested donations ($150+) were the norm. We were actually offended that his family parish would charge us the non-parishioner rate since we ourselves only attend Mass there a couple times a year, but his family goes DAILY. The ceremony fee would eat up 20% of our budget! I am now rethinking having it there and wondering about my hometown parish. But is there really a big difference in costs between churches? Do all tend to require a minimum $800 donation? I don't want to get my hopes up if all churches are equally pricey. Is there a normal range to be expected?