[Mrs. Don-o]

Now that one's a surprise to me. It was 25 years ago, but the Catholic pastor didn't charge us anything for the wedding. And it wasn't even my parish: it was my mother's parish. We made a small donation (which was not even hinted at) to the pastor, and didn't spend a dime on flowers, either, because it was right after Christmas and the church was glorious with poinsettias.

Same thing with my father's funeral. There was no question of money. Again, I made a token offering to the pastor and additionally gave the organist/choir director $25 and she was actually shocked that I had made an offer of money.

[TexasFreeper2009]

yep, that used to be the norm.

now they charge as much (or more) for the church as they do they reception venue. So many couples simply opt to do the ceromony at the reception venue or elsewhere to save money.