Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming marriage! College Park Church is excited to assist you in planning this very important day. We care about your relationship, and we want your marriage to honor Jesus Christ. We take marriage seriously because God takes it seriously, and we believe that your actual marriage is more important than your wedding day. We want to do all we can as a church to prepare each of you as individuals so that when you say "I do," you’ve had ample opportunity and help to work through any major issues that may arise. We also want to ensure that you’ve had time to complete the pre-marital counseling requirements.
In light of this, we do not recommend attempting to schedule a wedding less than 4 months away from today's date. We believe 4 months allows enough time to address issues, plan ahead, fulfill the requirements of pre-marital counseling, and also have time to fulfill other obligations and plan the wedding. We want to faithfully shepherd you through this season.
Please read this article thoroughly, as it is designed to help you prepare for your wedding day and all the details of the planning process.
Guiding Principles
We want your wedding day to be a beautiful ceremony that glorifies God, but our greater prayer is that each couple is prepared to enter into the marriage covenant and to build on a solid foundation for the years to come. The marriage ceremony is a momentary event, but the marriage relationship is what ultimately reflects the relationship that Christ has with His church. Here are some guiding principles as we seek to accomplish this goal together.
- We want your wedding to be a worshipful, spiritual event that brings honor to Christ and reflects how God desires your marriage to honor Christ.
- We hope to help you build community with other couples, a pastor, and a mentor couple that will help shepherd you as you enter into marriage.
- As much as is possible, we want to help you transition well from singlehood to marriage, for the glory of Christ.
Requirements for having your wedding at College Park Church
Those who may be married at College Park are prioritized as follows:
- Members of College Park Church (note that membership is not the same as attendance, as the membership process includes a membership class and being voted into membership)
- Faithful attenders of College Park Church for a minimum of the past 8 months and/or a family member of a College Park member (e.g., a child of a parent who is a member)
- Anyone that a College Park pastor requests a ceremony for
Completing pre-marital counseling at College Park is also a requirement. Learn more and register for pre-marital counseling
In extenuating circumstances, alternate forms of pre-marital counseling may also be accepted. You can submit details to Ryan Berg, Assistant Pastor of Soul Care, for approval.
Because God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a man, a woman, and himself, College Park Church will only recognize and solemnize marriages between one man and one woman. The pastors and staff of College Park Church will only participate in weddings and solemnize marriages between one man and one woman, and the facilities and property of College Park Church will only host weddings between one man and one woman.
How to schedule a wedding
- Carefully review the information in this Wedding Guide.
- Contact Amy Spencer, Resource & Communication Manager, to request a date.
- Submit a Wedding Request Form once the date has been approved.
Please note the following:
- Weddings may be scheduled to begin no later than 4 p.m. on Saturdays. If you are having your reception at CPC, we ask that it ends no later than 6 p.m. in order for the facilities team to have adequate time to clean and set up for Sunday morning services.
- Wedding rehearsals may not begin any later than 7 p.m. If you are having your rehearsal dinner at CPC, the rehearsal dinner may not start any later than 7 p.m. on a Friday night.
- Our core ministries take precedence in scheduling their ministry events. Therefore, you may not reserve the wedding chapel any more than one year in advance. The church is unavailable for weddings during these times:
- Sundays
- New Year’s Day
- Palm Sunday weekend through Easter Sunday
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving weekend
- December
- If for some reason we are not able to accommodate your wedding, our pastors are open to officiating your wedding at another location.
Optional Wedding Services
You are free to use outside vendors (e.g., musicians, photographers, etc.) of your choice, but for your convenience, our wedding coordinators have a list of CPC musicians, photographers, videographers, makeup artists, hairdressers, and other vendors.
Available Equipment at College Park Church
The resources and equipment listed below are available for your wedding. Ask your Wedding Coordinator for details on the availability and quantity of these items:
- Tables
- Chairs
- Grand piano in the Chapel
- Lectern/Podium
- Microphones
- Candles/Candle Holders
- Three wrought iron candle screens – Each screen has 36 candle holders. You will need to supply tea lights to put in the holders.
- 2 wrought iron candelabras
Note: These items may not be taken off College Park Church’s main campus and may not be borrowed or rented for events off-site.
Required Wedding Fee
While there is not a building usage fee for having a wedding at CPC, a wedding fee of $900 is required to cover the cost of the services of the audio/visual technician, wedding coordinator, and custodian. Please give a check to your wedding coordinator, made out to College Park Church, no later than three weeks prior to the day of the rehearsal. This fee does not include any additional services you may use such as musicians or photographers, and does not include the pastoral honorarium. If a College Park pastor will be officiating your wedding, we recommend a $350 honorarium.
Officiating Pastors
College Park Church has several pastors on staff who are willing to officiate weddings. You are responsible for contacting the College Park pastor and making arrangements for him to officiate your wedding. Please plan on giving your pastor an honorarium for his services. Your wedding coordinator can give you more information on the amount that is appropriate for an honorarium. To have a non-College Park pastor officiate your wedding, please complete the Guest Pastor Request Form.
Important Documents, Programs, and Order of Ceremony
Please give the following documents to your Wedding Coordinator at least four weeks prior to the wedding:
- Wedding Coordinator Worksheet- provided by your Wedding Coordinator.
- Order of Ceremony (and reception if applicable)
Please give the following documents to the wedding coordinator no later than the wedding rehearsal:
- Marriage certificate (CPC will mail for you) – please fill out all information ahead of time
- Wedding program, when applicable
- PowerPoint/DVDs/CDs for wedding
Rehearsal and Decoration Guidelines
In order to keep the rehearsal to one hour, we ask that the wedding party be ready to start on time. Persons who need to be at the rehearsal are the following:
- Bride and Groom
- Best man and Maid/Matron of Honor
- Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, and Ushers
- Parents of the Bride and Groom
- Ring Bearer and Flower Girl
- All Speakers/Pastors
- Instrumentalists and anyone performing
Your wedding coordinator will let you know what time the Chapel is available to decorate on the day before your wedding. Generally, the building is not available until late morning or early afternoon.
Please note that if you plan to use candles, each candle must be in a container or in a candle holder.
Wedding Day Guidelines
- The Chapel, Prayer Room (S109B), and Young Families Room (S103) will be reserved for your wedding day. If you need another room, please contact the Resource Coordinator. Please respect the presence of groups in other parts of the building and do not use any rooms that were not requested in advance.
- We ask that food and drinks remain in the Commons, Prayer Rooms, and Young Families Room.
- Children must be under adult supervision at all times and respect church equipment and supplies.
- Smoking and alcoholic beverages are not permitted in the building.
- It is the responsibility of the wedding party to clear all tables of trash and take down decorations. Trash bags and receptacles will be provided. Please clean up any areas that you used to prepare for the wedding such as restrooms or S109 and S103.
- Only birdseed, flowers petals, or bubbles may be used outside the building.
- The church is not responsible for any lost, stolen, or rented items. Please talk with your wedding coordinator about how to secure all gifts and personal items during the wedding.
- All sound and lighting issues should be brought to the attention of the audio/visual technician. If you have specific requests ahead of time for sound and lighting, please address these with your wedding coordinator.
Reception & Rehearsal Dinners
College Park Church is not able to host large-scale receptions on our North Indy campus. However, we can accommodate smaller receptions based on the following requirements:
- The reception will take place in the East Rooms, located on the northeast side of the North Indy building (This room can hold 140 people standing with a small “cake and punch” reception or a maximum of 100 people seated for a full reception).
- Guests cannot hang any decorations on the walls.
- For a “cake and punch” reception, chairs can be set up around the perimeter for guests who would like to sit. The additional fee for a reception is $500. This fee is for:
- the audio/visual technician who will assist you with any desired microphones or other audio/visual equipment,
- the custodian who will set up the tables and chairs and will clean up and reset the room for church the next morning,
- the wedding coordinator who will assist you, answer questions, and oversee the use of the kitchen.
- If you choose to have a reception at CPC, please include this fee in the check that is written to College Park Church and given to the Wedding Coordinator
- The additional fee for a rehearsal dinner is $325. This fee is for:
- The audio/visual technician who will assist you with any desired microphones or other audio/visual equipment
- The custodian who will set up the tables and chairs and will clean up and reset the room for church the next morning
- The wedding coordinator who will assist you, answer questions, and oversee the use of the kitchen
- If you choose to have a reception at CPC, please include this fee in the check that is written to College Park Church and given to the wedding coordinator.
- There are no building fees added on top of this. College Park Church offers the facility as a service to its members.
- Your group is responsible for all setup and tear down of any rental equipment and decorations that you might use as well as removing all leftover food, beverages, and condiments.
- We ask that your guests, including children, remain in your reserved room to avoid food and beverages being spilled in other areas of the building and to avoid any children being unsupervised in other areas.
- Your wedding coordinator will be present to assist and answer questions during this time.
We look forward to the possibility of working with you for your special day!
If you are interested in holding your wedding at College Park Church, please contact Amy Spencer.