How to Get Married at Mission Espada

The Missions National Historical Park is the birthplace of the city of San Antonio. The dramatic, Spanish architecture and cultural significance of the park offers a unique setting for visitors. But of the five UNESCO World Heritage Site buildings, only Mission Espada has the beautiful, trefoil bell tower. If you are wondering how to get married within the quaint Mission Espada church, then today’s blog post will have all the information you need. From who to contact and what paperwork to provide, to the best photo locations once you’ve walked down the aisle, today’s blog post will tell you exactly how to get married at Mission Espada.

Mission Espada Is a Real Church

The official name of Mission Espada is the Mission San Francisco de la Espada St. Frances X Cabrini, and it is much more than just a tourist destination. The church is an active parish, and holds mass for the local community in both English and Spanish. Official times for mass may be found on the church website here.

How to Get Married at Mission Espada: It Starts at Your Church

The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, run by the federally-funded National Park Service, does not issue permits for weddings at any of the missions. Instead, the wedding permit process is handled by the Catholic Church at each respective mission. You can find a list of the parish office contact information below to inquire about the specific permit requirements of each mission.

Mission Espada
10040 Espada Road
Contact: (210) 627-2064 or espadacabrini@gmail.com

Mission Concepción
807 Mission Road
Contact: (210) 533-8955

Mission San José
6701 San Jose Drive
Contact: (210) 922-0543 or sanjoseinsatx@yahoo.com

Mission San Juan
9101 Graf Road
Contact: (210) 534-3161 or msjcapistranotx@gmail.com

To get married at Mission Espada, you have to first and foremost practice the Catholic faith and be a member of another parish that will sponsor your marriage application. This means that your personal parish will handle all of the necessary marriage certificate paperwork as well as provide the officiant for the wedding.

What Paperwork Do I Need to Provide to Get Married at Mission Espada?

The matrimonial process begins by first meeting with your local parish priest. After you have spoken with your pastor and expressed your desire to get married at Mission Espada, it is your pastor who must provide a letter to the Mission Espada parish office. The letter must state that he has met with the bride and groom and will allow the wedding to take place at Mission Espada.

According to the Mission Espada website, the request to get married at Mission Espada must be made six months prior to the wedding date. In addition to the letter from the couple’s pastor, the following documentation of the bride and groom’s identity and faith is required:

State birth certificate (no hospital certificates)
Baptism certificate
Communion certificate
Confirmation certificate

All documents need to be received and processed at the Mission Espada parish office at least two months prior to the wedding date.

How Much Does It Cost to Get Married at Mission Espada?

The rental fee for the use of Mission Espada church is $750, plus a deposit of $250 for a total of $1,000. A wedding date can only be reserved once the parish office has received a signed contract, a letter from the bride and groom’s pastor, and a deposit of $250. Checks must be made payable to Mission San Francisco de la Espada Catholic Church, and the balance is due two months prior to the wedding.

Logistics of a Mission Espada Wedding

Weddings are only held on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The church itself is air-conditioned and an excellent location for a ceremony with a guest count of 50 people maximum. The parish does not provide either marriage preparation courses or priest and deacons for non-parishioners. The bride and groom must provide a Catholic priest or deacon in good standing for both the rehearsal and the ceremony.

Can I Have a Reception at Mission Espada?

Mission Espada has very limited facilities available for a wedding reception. According to the parish website, the only available building for rental is the Main Hall. The red brick and the Saint Anthony buildings are not available currently. Contact the parish office directly for any building rental inquiries.

The cost to rent the Main Hall is $600 total for non-parishioners, and $500 for parishioners. Parishioners must be registered with the church, and this will be verified in order to receive the lower fee. The deposit for both parishioners and non-parishioners is $150. No alcohol is allowed on the mission grounds.

If you are looking to close down the park for a much larger reception, then you will need to contact the National Park Service for a special event permit. The special event permit can be applied for online on the NPS website. You must apply for the permit at least 90 days prior to the event. Note that EMS and law enforcement services may be required for special events. Furthermore, you cannot advertise any events unless a permit has been issued and no National Park Service branding can be used in the marketing materials.

Do I Need a Photography Permit for My Wedding at the Mission Espada?

An official wedding at the Mission Espada also grants you permission to take photos on the grounds. In general, you do not need a photo permit at the Missions National Historical Park unless you are taking photos for commercial use or you fit the following criteria:

The activity takes place at location(s) where or when members of the public are generally not allowed or outside of normal staff operational hours of 9:00 am – 5:00 pm;
The activity uses models, sets, or props that are not a part of the location’s natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities;
Or, the park would incur additional costs to monitor the activity

In short, if you are just there to take family photos or bridal party photos following a wedding, then you do not need a photo permit. If you have any questions about your photo shoot, then you should contact the National Park Service photo permit office at saan_permits@nps.gov.

Where Are the Best Places to Take Photos at Mission Espada?

Church Interior & Exterior

You have lots of options within the Mission Espada property for great photos. However, it all depends upon the sun. There is little to no shade at Mission Espada, so planning the time of your session is crucial (either early in the morning or late in the afternoon is ideal). You will also have to contend with a steady stream of tourists and parishioners alike.

Let’s start with taking photos at the church. For Fiona and Jeffrey‘s wedding, we took family photos both inside and outside the church. Note that the church interior is air-conditioned, which comes as a great relief during an August wedding. We did not have any tourists interrupting us during the family portrait session immediately after the wedding at 3:00 p.m.

But once the family photos were out of the way, parishioners began to arrive for the public mass. And so began people streaming into the church. As such, it was difficult to take photos of the couple outside of the church because people were going in and out of the doors. Keep this in mind and take your photos quickly both in the church and directly in front of the building.

Covered Walkway, Well & Ruins

Aside from the church interior and immediate exterior, I would also concentrate your photo efforts on the covered walkway, the well immediately in front of the church, and the ruins near the main parking lot. You will be chasing shade during your photo shoot, but the covered pathway will definitely come in handy. The ruins, though brightly lit, ironically provided the best photos of the day. If you leave the ruins until the end of your photo shoot in the afternoon, then you should be able to take advantage of fantastic lighting.

Additional Photo Locations Outside of the Mission Espada Property

There are two other nearby locations you should know about for photos. The first is the little walkway from the church to the River Walk. The pathway can be found along the west side of the parking lot, and it is clearly marked. You cannot get great photos by the river itself, but there is a natural meadow area here that has plenty of great photo opportunities. There is also a very large sculpture called the ‘Tree of Life,’ which would be fantastic for photos. It was simply too hot during Fiona and Jeffrey‘s wedding for us to even consider the five minute walk to the sculpture, but I recommend it if your wedding takes place in cooler weather.

The other location is the Camino Coahuilteca road, which goes over the San Antonio River. This roadside area doesn’t have much shade, but if you angle your subject to the corner of the roadway, you can get enough tree cover to take beautiful photos by the river. There are great views from either side of the road.

Meet Fiona and Jeffrey

How They Met

Finally, let’s meet the lovebirds! Fiona and Jeffrey met five years ago while working together at a ski resort in Colorado. It was a classic case of hard to get: Jeffrey asked Fiona to be his girlfriend, and she turned him down. But Jeffrey was not deterred. Their relationship continued, and she relented six months later by agreeing to becoming his girlfriend.

The Proposal

Obviously, Jeffrey is very persuasive, and decided to go the ultimate romantic route with his proposal to Fiona. Picture it: the couple are vacationing at the beach in Corpus Christi. It’s sunset, and as they walk together on the shore, hand-in-hand, they come upon a message in a bottle. Of course, this bottle was cleverly left by Jeffrey. Inside the bottle was a letter which Fiona began to read. As she finished reading the letter, she turned around and there was Jeffrey on one knee, ring in hand. She said yes, and that brings us to the present day.

Planning the Wedding

While their beautiful wedding at the Mission Espada turned out to be the perfect spot for them to say ‘I do,’ they originally considered getting married in November, then in Washington in August, and even Florida. Ultimately, they couldn’t make it work for every family member to attend, and so decided to have a small ceremony for themselves at Mission Espada. I’m glad they did.

The guest count for the wedding was only 22. After the ceremony, there was a private dinner held at Paesanos 1604 for family and friends.

Fiona and Geoffrey took advantage of my ‘Elopement Essay’ photo package, which includes three hours of wedding photography plus a one-hour engagement shoot downtown. We will be scheduling their downtown engagement shortly, but in the meantime, I wish these two the best as they embark on their new lives together. Enjoy the images, and I’ll have more photo adventures for you next week!

Vendors:

Veil: Amazon
Bouquet and boutonniere: Etsy
Solo guitarist: James Villanueva

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If you find this article on ‘How to Get Married at Mission Espada’ useful, then check out these articles:

Looking to say ‘I do’ in San Antonio? Drop me a line and let’s chat about how I can help you. I have hourly rates, and all photo shoots include editing and high-resolution files.

To view more images from my wedding photography portfolio, please visit my website – KellyWilliamsPhotographer.com