At Fourth Presbyterian Church, weddings are occasions of both joy and reverence—joy because of the gifts of love and happiness that the bride and groom have found in each other, and reverence because of the deep commitment they have made to live out their vows under the grace of God. The staff of Fourth Presbyterian Church is eager to help make your wedding a lovely and meaningful event and asks your careful attention to the following guidelines. Because the church receives many wedding requests, these guidelines are necessary to facilitate planning and to provide clarity both for you and for the church.

The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) says the following about marriage and weddings in the church:

Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family. Marriage is a civil contract between a woman and a man. For Christians, marriage is a covenant through which a man and a woman offer vows before God to live out together their lives of discipleship. In a service of Christian marriage, a lifelong commitment is made by a woman and a man to each other, publicly witnessed and acknowledged by the community of faith.

The Christian marriage ceremony is a service of worship before God, normally conducted within the church. Dignity will be expected on the part of all present, and the service shall be under the sole direction of the presiding minister.

Weddings normally are held only on Saturday. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, no weddings will be scheduled for that day.

Members who wish to be married at Fourth Presbyterian Church may reserve a wedding date after they have been on the active membership roll of Fourth Church for at least three months. To select the date and time for the wedding, contact the wedding coordinator by calling the church at 312.787.4570.

Nonmember couples may reserve a date up to but not more than seven months in advance, subject to the availability of dates.

Fourth Presbyterian Church provides a wedding coordinator to oversee the arrangements and details of the wedding service. Once the wedding date is confirmed, an appointment with the coordinator is required to discuss Fourth Church’s wedding guidelines. Questions about arrangements, minister, music, fees, and use of the facilities will be discussed at this conference. The wedding coordinator is a member of the church staff and will work with the minister in charge of the wedding.

If an outside wedding consultant has been employed, it is requested that his or her involvement be limited to the reception and other nonchurch activities. The rehearsal and wedding service are the responsibility of the staff of Fourth Church.

The wedding coordinator will discuss current fees with the bride and groom. A nonrefundable deposit is required at the time a wedding date is reserved. Final payment and all additional fees—for such things as soloist(s) and musicians—must be paid one week prior to the wedding day.

Preparation for marriage at Fourth Presbyterian Church requires attendance at a premarital workshop led by staff members of Fourth Church’s Lorene Replogle Counseling Center. Workshop topics include conflict resolution, dealing with differences, and assessing marriage goals. The cost of this group workshop is included in the wedding fee.

As soon as possible after meeting with the wedding coordinator, the bride and groom are expected to make a reservation to attend the workshop, as the workshops are limited in size and frequency. (This is not a responsibility to be postponed until the last few months or weeks before your wedding.) To find out about available workshop dates and make a reservation, call the Counseling Center at 312.787.8425. The option of a more in-depth, individualized series of premarital sessions is available at an additional cost.

Fourth Presbyterian Church is a faith community that holds as an essential part of its witness that God calls people to ordained ministry regardless of their age, gender, or ethnic origin. The assignment of ministers to perform marriages is undertaken on this basis. It is important for prospective wedding couples to understand and to accept this expression of the mission of Fourth Church when they are assigned their officiating pastor.

The minister designated to preside at the service will contact the couple and set up an appointment to meet with them to counsel and to plan the service. A Fourth Presbyterian Church minister is always present at weddings held in the church. Please know that his or her schedule may limit the minister’s participation to the rehearsal and the service, and therefore he or she may not be able to attend the rehearsal dinner or reception.

The presiding minister from Fourth Presbyterian Church has primary responsibility for the order and conduct of the wedding service. Other clergy may participate at the invitation of the presiding minister. If you wish to include an assisting minister who is not on the staff of Fourth Presbyterian Church, please make your request to the wedding coordinator and the presiding minister.

A wedding at Fourth Presbyterian Church is an act of worship. Thus, the wedding service will be conducted according to the liturgy found in the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship and the guidelines established by the Worship, Music, and Arts Committee of the Session of Fourth Presbyterian Church. It is appropriate for the service to include special music, hymns, Scripture readings, and a brief homily by the minister. The officiating clergy will review the order of service and appropriate options with the couple.

Because the wedding service is an act of worship, music is provided by musicians of Fourth Presbyterian Church. The couple will receive a sample recording of wedding music and should contact the associate organist of Fourth Presbyterian Church, who will assist them in choosing appropriate music for their service. Vocal soloists must be members of the Fourth Presbyterian Church Choir. The organist will make arrangements for such soloists and other instrumentalists if requested. An additional fee will be charged for soloists and instrumentalists. Guest instrumentalists must submit a sample tape or CD to the director of music at least one month prior to the wedding and must subsequently be approved by the director.

Wedding photographs may be taken in the Garth (courtyard), Loggia hallway or in the place of worship before and/or after the wedding service. Once the wedding date and time is set, the wedding coordinator will provide a timeline for the period of time you will be at the church on your wedding day. This timeline will include opportunities and locations for photography before and after the ceremony.

In keeping with the atmosphere of worship, only the professional photographer hired for the wedding may take photographs during the service. During the service, the professional photographer may only photograph from the rear of the Sanctuary or chapel with existing light. No photographs can be taken during the prayers. Only the professional photographer may take flash photographs, and these are limited to the escorting of the grandmothers and mothers, the procession of the bridesmaids, the bridal procession, and the time after the benediction at the end of the service. The photographer must remain behind the body of the congregation at all times. At no time will "set ups" for formal photographs with screens for backdrops, etc., be permitted.

The ushers are to inform the guests that photographs and videos may not be taken once the guests have entered the church.

The service may be videotaped with the following restrictions: the taping must be done from the north side or back balcony; no auxiliary lighting equipment may be used; and the equipment may not be moved during the service.

The two chapels and the Sanctuary are in themselves places of great beauty and do not need excessive decoration for wedding ceremonies. At certain times of the year the sanctuary is adorned with temporary art installations (usually banners or hangings) which complement the architecture. These remain in place during weddings.

“Hearts and Hands” installation for Stewardship 2005

The church will provide a kneeler, candelabra, and candles if requested. Because of fire hazards, hurricane lamps with candles or other candle decorations along the aisle are not permitted.

Aisle runners can be obtained from florists.
Sanctuary:        125 feet
Blair Chapel:     37 feet

Florists delivering flowers to the church must check in with the church receptionist at the 126 East Chestnut entrance.

The wedding coordinator should be included in the planning of the decorations. Florists will have access to the worship space no earlier than 60 minutes before the wedding. They must be finished with preparing the church 40 minutes prior to the wedding. Please be sure that the florist is aware of the need to have personal flowers (bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, etc.) available for preservice photographs. If the flowers in the church are to be used at the reception, the florist may not remove them until all of the guests have departed and pictures have been taken.

It is not necessary to have a bulletin (an order of service) for your wedding. If you wish to have a bulletin, you may arrange to have one designed in accordance with the church's guidelines and printed by an outside firm. The wedding coordinator will provide you with the church's guidelines for printed wedding bulletins. To assure accuracy and conformity with these guidelines, all bulletins must be reviewed and approved by the officiating minister.

Please plan to bring the printed bulletins to the church at the time of your rehearsal. The church is unable to accept early delivery of or to provide advance storage for printed wedding bulletins.

The following pictures are available in high resolution JPEG format for use on bulletin covers. Click on the picture to download it.

Rehearsals are scheduled for Friday evenings at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 p.m., in the order requested. Rehearsals start promptly and are intended to ensure a smooth ceremony, so all who have a role in the wedding are expected to be present. Please be prompt. The rehearsal does not include music. Please tell all rehearsal participants to enter at the location indicated on the wedding invitation.

A total of three weddings may be held on a Saturday. No ceremony is held simultaneously with another. In order to accommodate the demand for wedding time and space, one wedding party may be scheduled to arrive at the church at the time the preceding party is scheduled to depart. The time and space alloted to each party is determined with the wedding coordinator according to existing schedules and church policies.

Each wedding at Fourth Presbyterian Church has a two-and-a-half-hour window of time for preparations, the ceremony, and post-ceremony greetings and photographs. Wedding parties and their service providers may arrive at the church one hour before the start of the wedding ceremony. Due to other events and activities—including other weddings—the church is unable to accommodate early arrivals.

Specific spaces, including dressing rooms and worship facilities, will be reserved for the wedding party and guests. These space reservations will be outlined in the timeline provided by the wedding coordinator. Wedding parties and their guests will be expected to depart from church space no later than one-and-a-half hours following the scheduled start of the wedding service.

John Timothy Stone Chapel Seating Capacity: 15	Blair Chapel Seating Capacity: 65	Sanctuary Seating Capacity: 1,000

John Timothy Stone Chapel     
Seating Capacity: 15

Blair Chapel
Seating Capacity: 65

Sanctuary
Seating Capacity: 1,000

A dressing room is available for the bride’s use on the day of the wedding. The groom and all other members of the wedding party are expected to arrive dressed. Facilities are provided for final grooming. If the bride decides to dress beforehand, the bridal party and parents must arrive at the church no later than 45 minutes prior to the beginning of the service. This is necessary to ensure that everyone is in place before the guests arrive.

There are no parking facilities available at the church for use by the bridal party, wedding guests, photographers, or other service providers. The most convenient parking facility is located in the Bloomingdale’s building (900 N. Michigan) at the corner of Delaware Place and Rush Street (entrance on Rush Street or Walton Street). There is no discount parking available on Saturdays.

The facilities of Fourth Presbyterian Church are in constant use by a number of groups. Our commitment is to provide the best possible experience for all people using the church facilities. Please be considerate of those who are here for purposes other than for your wedding.

We ask your courtesy in helping to keep the church complex clean and litter-free. Please refrain from throwing rice, birdseed, confetti, flower petals, potpourri, or any other substance either inside or outside the buildings. The release of balloons and live animals is prohibited. In our experience, the most effective way to greet the newly married couple is to ring the church bells as the couple leaves the sanctuary.

Sometimes the bride and groom choose to greet people at the church after the service. The narthex (entry space between the front door and the sanctuary), Loggia hallway, or the Garth courtyard are appropriate places for greeting; the sanctuary and chapels are not.

There are no checkrooms or secure package storage areas in the sanctuary or chapels. Please discourage guests from bringing gift packages to the church.

No child care services or nursery facilities are available during weddings. Parents should make private, off-site babysitting arrangements for children whom they feel are too young to attend the wedding service.

Fourth Presbyterian Church is a smoke-free environment, and alcoholic beverages are not permitted on the church premises at any time.

Because the church complex has several entrances, it is important that the following addresses for the particular places of worship be used on the wedding invitations to ensure that your guests arrive at the proper location:

Sanctuary:
The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
North Michigan Avenue at Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois

Blair Chapel:    
The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago,
Blair Chapel
115 East Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois

John Timothy    Stone Chapel:
The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
John Timothy Stone Chapel
125 East Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois

A Cook County marriage license from the Bureau of Statistics is required for marriage. Information regarding area locations, hours, fees, and proper means of identification needed may be obtained by calling 312.603.5664. A wedding at Fourth Church cannot take place without a license. Please bring the license with you at the time of the rehearsal. The presiding minister is the only person who signs the license following the wedding service. The church is responsible for returning the signed license to the Bureau of Statistics. Be sure to record the license number in your personal records and take note of how you may acquire a duplicate copy.

If you have additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Ann Meuse (ameuse@fourthchurch.org) Wedding Coordinator, or presiding minister by calling 312.787.4570.

And remember that Fourth Church is your continuing “church home” after your marriage—a place to seek God’s Spirit and truth through worship, education, friendship, and service to others. We wish you every joy and blessing.