2008 Woodie Awards
Tying the Knot
Getting Married at Dahlgren
Tierney Sneed
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News
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Like cheering on Roy Hibbert or enjoying a ranch covered slice of Philly's Pizza, casually passing by a wedding at Dahlgren Chapel on any given Saturday afternoon is just another wonderful aspect of attending this university. At Georgetown, many people discover their passions, meet their life-long friends, and maybe even fall in love with their future spouses. Georgetown, as a Catholic university, offers its alumni an apropos as well picturesque location to wed.
This popular tradition has also brought about a bounty of rumors concerning the difficulty of enacting the sacred rite of matrimony on campus. "I've heard the waitlist is like ten years long. You might as well book the chapel after the first date," said Ben Ryan, (COL '08).
Needless to say, Ben is not a "Ring by Spring" Senior. Had he been involved in the process of planning a Georgetown wedding, he would know the waitlist for Dahlgren Chapel, or any of the other locations, does not stretch into the next decade. In fact, university policy does not allow an interested couple to book farther than two years in advance. Nevertheless, the procedure is intricate on both ends-that of the wedding party and of the Office of Campus Ministry, which organizes the ceremonies.
The first step to reserving a chapel for a ceremony is simply typing "Georgetown wedding" in the search engine on the Georgetown website. After clicking on the appropriate link, one will find a comprehensive website detailing the extensive process of a Catholic wedding. At least one member of the couple must be Catholic, and to marry on campus, at least one member must be faculty or alumni. If not deterred by the mandatory Catholic retreat, the massive amounts of paperwork, or the blood test (which is actually required by law for all marriages), the prospective bride and groom then submit an inquiry to the Office of Campus Ministry.
The Office of Campus Ministry, located on the ground floor of Healy Hall, bustles with activity. The staff, though undeniably busy, is overwhelmingly friendly, perhaps motivated by the idea that they are assisting the happy union of Georgetown alumni and faculty.
"Most of the inquiries are usually submitted by the brides or the brides' moms," said Mrs. B. Acklin-Longenecker, a Sacraments Assistant, with a smile. Although she has only been working in the Office for a little more than a month, she is well aware of the complex procedures involved. She discusses dates with the prospective couple first. The chapel must be reserved six months in advance. Most couples have specific dates, or even months, in mind. The more flexible the couple, the easier it is to book a date. All weddings take place only on Saturdays at either 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. These two hour intervals incorporate a half-hour to set up before the start, the one hour ceremony, and the half-hour afterwards to clean up. Weddings cannot be scheduled on the Saturdays of Holy Week, Graduation weekend, Memorial Day weekend, Alumni weekend, Freshman Move-in, Labor Day weekend, or during the Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year vacations.
A number of factors determine the location of a wedding. Dahlgren Chapel and Copley Crypt service only Catholic weddings, while St. Williams Chapel offers Protestant couples the opportunity to marry on campus. Dahlgren Chapel holds as many as 250 guests, while the more intimate Copley Crypt seats only 54. Dates and availability also affect the ultimate location of the wedding.
Once the engaged couple completes the initial forms and submits a check for $600 to the university, they schedule a pastoral visit with Dr. Mastroianni, Senior Roman Catholic Chaplain. The Chaplain assesses the couple's eligibility for marriage as well as explains the requirements. Among other things, the couple must participate in the Catholic Marriage Retreat program, retrieve birth certificates from their registered parishes, complete a prenuptial questionnaire, and get the legally required blood tests. The Archdiocese of Washington, DC, not Georgetown itself, demands these various steps. The Office of Campus Ministry tracks the couple's progress in completing the package, checking every month or so before the wedding. The office must coordinate with the couple and a number of parishes (including Holy Trinity where the marriage will be registered).
Russell J. Weismann, Director of Music and Liturgy, organizes the music for the weddings. He works with a number of different area musicians, all of whom are familiar with the chapel space and scheduling of weddings at Georgetown, so the couple is not limited in their options.
"This spring alone we are having everything from bagpipes to guest children's choirs. There's talk for one of the fall weddings having a prestigious choral group on hand to offer spectacular music," said Weismann.
So with all the work involved, is it worth the trouble to marry on campus?
"Definitely worth it! If you do a Catholic wedding you are going to have to jump through the same hoops everywhere. This is such a beautiful spot and had tremendous meaning to us personally," said Tim Morrison (COL '03), a Georgetown alumnus who married at Dahlgren this fall. "The people on campus also seem to be more accommodating to unique requests than a normal church would be because everyone is member of such a close community. My wife and I talk about already wanting to have another wedding we had such a good time."
Morrison and his wife Danielle Morrison (COL '03), who met through mutual friends their sophomore year, did not start dating until their junior year. Both also have siblings currently enrolled at Georgetown, Nolan Morrison, (SFS '11), and Missy Harvey, (COL '10).
Their wedding took place September 29, homecoming weekend. Only two weeks prior to the date, plaster fell from the roof of Dahlgren Chapel, threatening to force the couple to wed elsewhere. "We had Nolan and Missy walking by the Chapel and harassing the Campus Ministry for information everyday," said Tim Morrison.
Luckily, the show went on. The ceremony included a photo of all present Georgetown students and alumni, which made up one third of the 130 guests. It also featured a three-tier cake with "Hoya Saxa" frosted on top. They were married by Father James Duffy, who works in the Bioethics department. Father Duffy had already formed a relationship with the couple, as Danielle Morrison is currently attending Georgetown Medical School.
For Tim Morrison's brother, Nolan Morrison, a Georgetown wedding is a tradition worth continuing. "My parents met each other at Georgetown and a lot of their friends now were also their friends back then [...] The bond of marriage really brings about a sense of lasting community unique to Georgetown that I hope to someday share with a family of my own just as mine has," said Nolan Morrison. Jokingly, he added, "Now all that's left is to find a Hoya and book Dahlgren. How hard could that be?"
Sneed is an arts and sciences freshman.
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