A Catholic wedding ceremony follows a set structure and may or may not include a nuptial mass, which is similar to a regular mass but takes place alongside the wedding. The processional begins with the priest welcoming the congregation and reading out what Christians believe in marriage. The couple makes their promises in front of God that they will love, comfort, honor, and protect their partner as long as they both shall live. The couple then makes their vows to one another.
Catholic engagements are generally expected to last a full year, with prewedding traditions typically taking place for couples planning a Catholic wedding ceremony. To-be-weds should partner with their priest throughout the wedding. The ceremony can be as short or long as you want, but remember that guests don’t want to be sitting for hours. In a registry office, your ceremony may be as brief as 10-15 minutes.
Another form of a Catholic wedding ceremony is held outside of Mass, which includes the Liturgy of the Word (readings and a homily) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The priest plays an important role in ensuring that your union is consecrated according to traditional customs and practices.
A Catholic wedding is traditionally a Catholic mass, with the sacrament of marriage inserted into the middle. The highpoint of the wedding day is the wedding liturgy, where the bride and groom become husband and wife in the Catholic Church.
A ceremony that includes a full mass and communion can take up to an hour, while a Rite of Marriage ceremony (without a mass) can last between 30-45 minutes. The free exchange of consent between a man and a woman makes the marriage happen.
📹 Saying I Do: What Happens at a Catholic Wedding
This new video explains the Rite of Marriage and answers frequently asked questions about Catholic weddings. A great resource …
What happens at a traditional Catholic wedding?
The ceremony includes three readings from the Bible, the exchange of vows, the exchange of rings, a prayer, and music. A Roman Catholic wedding is full of tradition and liturgy.
Requirements. The Church asks the bride and groom to help them prepare spiritually. There is no set of rules for Catholic marriage preparation. Each couple must rely on information from their parish priests. You also need a copy of your baptismal certificate. The Catholic partner must promise to continue practicing Catholicism and to raise children as Catholics. The non-Catholic partner makes the promise, without being asked to make any promises or commitments.
Language. The Catholic Church in America uses English. Weddings and Masses are often in the neighborhood’s main language (Italian, Spanish, etc.).
The Processional. Many Catholic churches ask the bride and groom to greet guests as they enter the church for the ceremony. The priest may meet the bride and groom at the entrance and lead them to the altar. Or, the priest and ministers go to the altar to receive the bride, groom, and their attendants. The processional might also include the cross bearer, the priest, servers, witnesses, bridesmaids, and groomsmen. The groom and bride should walk in with their parents. (Optional).
Do you kiss the bride in a Catholic wedding?
After the vows, the rings will be exchanged and blessed as symbols of love and fidelity. Then, each partner puts the ring on their spouse’s finger, finishing the ceremony. The priest might ask the couple to kiss during the sign of peace or at the end of the ceremony. Some regions also exchange coins, or wedding coins. Photo by David Salim; Event Planning & Design by Design Anarchy Studio; Floral Design by Tuscany Flowers. If the couple chooses to partake in a nuptial mass, this is where the wedding ceremony starts to feel like a Sunday mass. The altar is prepared for the Eucharist. Some family members or close friends may help with the offering of bread and wine to the priest.
Do Catholics kiss during wedding?
After the vows, the rings will be exchanged and blessed as symbols of love and fidelity. Then, each partner puts the ring on their spouse’s finger, finishing the ceremony. The priest might ask the couple to kiss during the sign of peace or at the end of the ceremony. Some regions also exchange coins, or wedding coins. Photo by David Salim; Event Planning & Design by Design Anarchy Studio; Floral Design by Tuscany Flowers. If the couple chooses to partake in a nuptial mass, this is where the wedding ceremony starts to feel like a Sunday mass. The altar is prepared for the Eucharist. Some family members or close friends may help with the offering of bread and wine to the priest.
How long is a Catholic wedding?
How long is a Catholic wedding? A ceremony with a full mass and communion can take up to an hour. A Rite of Marriage ceremony (without a mass) lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. Wedding ceremonies vary across cultures and religions. For Catholics, marriage is a religious sacrament with specific rituals. Before getting married in the Catholic Church, couples must submit documents, participate in church activities, and take a preparation course with a priest. The main part of the preparation is to learn about marriage in the church. In our diocese, couples must wait six months before getting married, says Father Paul Scalia. Father Paul Scalia is the Episcopal Vicar of Clergy at the Catholic Diocese of Arlington in Virginia. He is the author of That Nothing May Be Lost. Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion and Sermons in Times of Crisis: 12 Homilies to Stir Your Soul. He says couples planning Catholic church weddings should save more time for marriage prep. The program helps couples examine areas of their lives they hadn’t before. Some of it is also about the technical, legal, or canonical aspects of the church.
Can a Catholic marry a non-Catholic?
Can a Catholic marry a non-Catholic? Some people wonder if they can marry a non-Catholic and still be married in the Catholic Church. Yes, as long as you get your parish priest’s approval.
Mixed marriages are Catholic/non-Catholic weddings. These fall into two categories: Sacramental Marriage: If a Catholic marries someone who isn’t Catholic, the wedding is a sacrament. If they marry someone who isn’t baptized, it isn’t. If a Catholic marries someone who isn’t baptized, the wedding isn’t a sacrament. Why the difference? Last week I said the couple, not the priest, celebrates the Sacrament of Matrimony. A non-baptized person receives their first sacrament at baptism. A person can only receive another sacrament after baptism. Both people give and receive marriage, so it can’t be a sacrament for just one person.
Can Catholics hug before marriage?
It’s not sinful, but it’s unwise. God says sex before marriage is sinful, not kissing or cuddling.
What are the steps of a Catholic marriage?
Meet important requirements. The Church has these requirements: … Contact your parish. … Take a marriage preparation course. … Give the Church your certificates. Plan the wedding mass. Get married! Finding a partner is a blessing. If you’ve recently been engaged and are planning to be married in the Catholic Church, there are a few steps. In the Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament. These steps will prepare you for a lifetime of love and commitment.
1. Meet requirements. The Church has set these requirements.
What is the structure of a Catholic wedding?
The Rite of Marriage has four parts. Introduction and Welcome; Word; Marriage; Concluding Rite. In the introduction, the couple say they want to marry and the group prays.
How is a Catholic wedding different?
If the wedding includes a Mass, Catholics will receive communion. Non-Catholics cannot receive Communion, but they are asked to pray for the couple and their Lord.
What do Catholics do when they get married?
When you say your vows at the church, you are legally married. You can only have one ceremony. You can’t have a religious ceremony and a civil ceremony.
📹 What’s With Catholic Weddings?
Planning a wedding in the Catholic Church and want to know what to expect? Catholic weddings don’t always have the …
My husband, the best man, and I were the only three Catholics at my wedding. It was very difficult to even find a church to marry us since we are military and were living in seperate states at the time. We had to go through the cathedral, but despite all the effort it wound up and being a beautiful start to a fruitful marriage. Also if you get married shortly after Christmas, you don’t have to spend any money or effort to decorate at all!
I’m Catholic, 57 and have never been married. If I ever do sometime, I would have a very simple wedding that focuses on Christ working through us to bring us together. “Here comes the Bride” would embarrass the crap out of me. Ave Maria, The Pacabel Cannon or some other simple songs would suffice for me. This is a well done article that describes how weddings should be.
Thanks for uploading this article! I’m 6 months away from binding myself to my future husband in the sacrament. This article is great on explaining why, who, etc.. and it’s up to date as well! I still have to say.. this wedding stuff is scary! Movies are way too blah and romantic. This is a life long oath with another person and Jesus! It’s a HUGE step in spiritual and real life (leaving your parents, starting your own home and family…). Nevertheless, I’ve prayed a lot for guidance and here I am haha I will do whatever the Lord wants for me in His glory, scary or not!
A few years ago, my oldest friend, my Latin teacher from my Catholic high school was dying of a progressive lung disease. His boyfriend of many decades had been diagnosed with lymphoma but had a longer life expectancy. They asked me if they should marry do that the one with the longer life expectancy could continue taking care of his partner until death so that the partner with lymphoma wouldn’t be homeless. I said “of course.”.
I was surprised that this was a more enlightened view of marriage in my opinion. I was surprised that the bride and groom were seen as equal considering how steeped on patriarchy that most religions are, especially evangelicalism. I also agree with the Friar that that nobody should walk the bride down the aisle, that they should both walk together. The idea of the father “giving” his daughter in marriage leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Excellent explanation We are going through the marriage process now and I personally have no interest in the typical wedding. No flower girl, no ring bearer. We are happy with only two witnesses. The marriage isn’t about photos and flowers and the party afterwards, it’s about your mutual commitment/covenant and God. It’s good to see I’m not the only one who feels this way
This article makes me feel so much better about my upcoming wedding. I don’t look good in white- so I’m not wearing it and I don’t want to spend the extra money on a bridal party either. I know too many people who have dipped into their retirement just to have a glamorous wedding and every single one of them later say it wasn’t worth it and it’s not what the marriage was about anyway.
This is a great article- very clear, and definitely informative. Learned a lot from perusal this, and agree that every couple should watch this during their marriage preparation. Well, everyone really- not just couples in marriage prep. If a more simple approach was taken when preparing for ‘the big day’, perhaps a lot of fall-outs over the small details would be avoided.
I was married in my husband’s Catholic church, was told how my marriage would go. I was told what music and vows I could choose from. I scoured the thick, worn little book to find vows that didn’t say I will”obey” him. He wouldn’t have wanted it either. Worst was being denied taking communion, the sacrament, with my husband at our wedding. It saddens me, still, because it didn’t surprise me. I’ve read the programs at church, been to a Catholic church many times. 💜
Omg yessss about the expensive white wedding dress!!! (and hideous bridesmaids dresses to go along with that) So glad to hear him say that this is unnecessary! It makes absolutely nooo sense to buy a dress ur gonna wear only once in ur lifetime (ofc excluding those who want to hand their dresses down to their daughters) When I get married, I’m gonna wear something really nice, no doubt, but it’s gonna be something that I am gonna use again! Thinking about an elegant skirt n top!
I am currently writing a story and chose to base the wedding off that part of the scripture that he mentioned, a man and a woman leaving their families to cling to each other. In the story, the groom and his bride are led by their friends and family from opposite sides, who then break away to allow the two to meet in the middle, who will walk to the priest together. It’s really satisfying to find out that maybe it’s a little more Catholic than I thought it would be!
Thank you brother. I have watched quite a few of the articles you upload and I must say they are very informative. I was born catholic and will die catholic. I will do whatever I can to defend the church. I have seen many comments on other articles bashing the church as well as the lay people and priests. But I will not let that turn me away from true church
In 2004 the Italian Episcopal Conference changed the words of the wedding vows from “I take you” to “I welcome you” to enhance the active role of the man and the woman in the sacrament and their free decision to get married. Also, at the beginning of the ceremony, it was decided to replace the usual penitential rites with a commemoration of our own baptism by the baptismal font followed by the sprinkling of water. It is a reminder that married life comes from the baptism and that it is through this baptism that the couple experiences a sort of baptismal priesthood and is able to be minister of its own wedding. Litanies of the saints (a shorter version, with the patron saints of the bride and groom, of the parish and saints who have experienced married life) were also introduced after the exchanging of the rings, between the prayer of the faithful and the blessing, to remark the communion with the church and establish the calling of God to the married life. In a way, the wedding ceremony is compared to a priestly Ordination.
Weddings shouldn’t have to be so expensive and treated like a party. However, this is the trend today. If only couples and their families could see the beauty and mystery behind their union that is God, may be they could make it simpler. But this is a lifetime experience and it happens only once so i guess i understand when people give their best here especially being extravagant on their wedding days so long as they commit to their vows and value their commitment. For those who want to throw a party extravagantly, just do it. For those who want to make it simple, go for it. This article only emphasizes that wedding don’t have to be that expensive as long as they make a covenant in God’s presence with all their hearts. Many people avoid to marry these days as life becomes harder and tougher, thus, many try to shun weddings but they don’t understand that as the priest said, – it doesn’t have to that way cuz what is more important is the sanctity and sacredness of the marriage. The extravagances are just people’s choice of expressing their love and support for the couples.
The marriage customs of the church borrow a lot from the conferratio of ancient Rome, which was normally reserved for high ranking patricians making dynastic alliances and the priesthood most romans just lived together and said that they were together and that was enough, quite a contrast from the middle ages and what the church expects of its flock
This article actually makes me happy to be coming back to the church. I do need advice tho @breakinginthehabit how do I get family and friends to stop pestering me about “tradition”? I think most of it is stupid anyway. I love the idea of greeting people before the marriage and then walking in together with my fiancé. I don’t care about superstitious stuff about hiding my wedding dress and all that stuff. I really don’t want to do this but family and friends are forcing me. How do I get them to understand I don’t want any of that nonsense?
I’ve never understood that giving away part. That must be some anglo-saxon thing. In my country the bride and groom goes together to the church. Unfortunately due to media influence some “misguided souls” think that’s something worth to copy. I’ve only seen that “giving away” thing in English speaking movies, and I always start to search if the father of the bride has a shotgun or something.
When I was a third year medical student in Philadelphia, I was driving to my friend’s Catholic wedding in NJ. I was on the GSP and already running late, when my 1995 teal hatchback Honda Civic blew a tire. I showed up two hours late after replacing the tire with the “donut” in the back. Fortunately, I was able to catch the last hour of the ceremony. True story. Mmmmm….donut.
Matthew 19:4 And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said: Matthew 19:5 “For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh. Matthew 19:6 And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.” Marriage in The Catholic Church is a Holy Sacrament that brings God to the center of the union.
.We need to go back to focus on the importance of the sacrament rather than on the “cosmetics”. . Nowadays, young bride’s first get the venue, one year in advance, and, THEN,, the church!. One year preparing the wedding. No rush getting married, of course, because the sexual part is resolved. The poor groom regretting ever proposing, stressed to no end!. The broke friends spending money on expensive rentals and dresses The important thing is “to look pretty in all the pictures pre-wedding and post-wedding that I am going to post in my Facebook for the envy of all of my friends. It doesn’t matter if my marriage doesn’t last two years. At least, I had a beautiful wedding!”
I intend to keep things simple if I ever commit myself like that, and I appreciate the article overall, but I’m somewhat skeptical about the interpretation given for when a father walks his daughter over to the altar. Would anyone participating in the event, other than an extremely cynical person, honestly believe that this is why we continue to do it? I’m not focused on its origins, but on what it means now.
The traditional lyrics of the Wedding March (from the German Opera Lohengrin) actually do not contradict Catholic theology or teaching on marriage: “Faithfully guided, draw near to where the blessing of love shall preserve you! Triumphant courage, the reward of love, joins you in faith as the happiest of couples! Champion of virtue, proceed! Jewel of youth, proceed! Flee now the splendour of the wedding feast, may the delights of the heart be yours! This sweet-smelling room, decked for love, now takes you in, away from the splendour. Faithfully guided, draw now near to where the blessing of love shall preserve you! Triumphant courage, love so pure, joins you in faith as the happiest of couples!” The main theological argument against the use of the song for the procession is because it is a secular piece of music (and some consider it pagan).
After 5:32, you start your transition towards a critical analysis of the stereotypical marriage ceremony. My focus is particularly the part at 5:53, because just recently I came across a article that discusses courtship ( youtube.com/watch?v=r1V4w38v2mI ). At 8:58 of THE OTHER article he gave a reason that seemed to be reasonable… So now that I may have brought this to your attention(and/or some one else’s), I would love to be on the receiving end of reasonably reasonable opinions (that are true). If you don’t have time to watch the whole article, just concern yourself with the part specified. Thank you, A person
Yes, that may be the modern theological rationale but history says otherwise. The couple consent and make an informed choice, eh? Yet as one who reads extensively in historical works, I note that for centuries the RCC and the Papacy was a supporter of marriages involving proxies standing in for the actual couple and royal and aristocratic minors (pre-pubescent) who could have no idea of the meaning and obligations of marriage. Yet married they were in often elaborate RC ceremony.. Further, the role of the Catholic clergyman differs in law from country to country and here from state to state. To claim he is just a witness for the church is factually false and deceiving. The state empowers clergy of different churches and non-Christian clergy too to act as a public officer to validate and confirm the civil aspect of the wedding. Weddings in some RC dominated countries may only need validation by the RC church but not here, where marriage has two aspects, civil law and for RC and some other Christians, sacramental/religious.
Catholic wedding? My brother had to go to Italy to marry his wife! Talk about a “Catholic Wedding”! And, to add to it, the village had to be evacuated because the volcano where the village was located was erupting! True story! Mt. Etna! They got married a few days later. Still married over forty years later. My wedding? I went in with a police package Mossberg 12-gauge, my 1911 .45ACP, and took my bride! Not an easy thing since my soon to be father-in-law fought both the Germans and Japanese during WWII and was a genius rocket scientist (MIT). Ha! No! Not really! Our children made the best of the best U. S. Marines later in life, though. Home schooled, of course.
I’m engaged 9 years, and, we would have been married even before March 6, 2012, when courts started to interfere more, to cause me to provide my future wife with less abusive security, somewhere else. -It would be against Interpol to subject her to this, as in, subjective, it would certainly be against God, as I do have a duty to God to provide her.
Oh, yeah, Catholics believe it is a holy, unbreakable covenant. Unless you find someone you like better, in which case, get an annulment. Not a divorce; divorce is civil law and is morally wrong. Because what God has join, let only the Church put asunder. And if you are worried about not getting your annulment, don’t be; the Church grants over 70% of annulments.