Catholic Wedding

[bethanyr]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

 

[Castello]

As you are both Catholic, it is the right thing for the wedding to be a Mass. There are three in this marriage, God - husband and wife. This is a sacrament.

Family and friends who cannot give you the gift of 1 hour in a church building can simply not attend.

 

[Pax2u]

Mass won’t take any longer than a usual Sunday Mass. Your non-Catholic family and friends should be told (perhaps in a nicely worded message on your wedding program) about the proper procedure for receiving Holy Communion so they don’t think they should just “go up” at that time. It;'s an hour…have the Mass!!!

 

[MisterCorduroy]

At our wedding we had an announcement before the Mass and by the priest before Communion" “Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is reserved for baptized Catholics who have properly prepared themselves to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Everyone else is welcome to come up with arms crossed to receive a blessing.” My Protestant family members had no problem with this and liked that they could still go up with everybody else.

 

[Pax2u]

Another thought…the actual sacrament of matrimony is such a sacred thing…not a time to be worried if your guests are bored. You entertain your guests at the reception, not the marriage ceremony.

 

[Luna_Lovecraft]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

My husband and I were married in a scheduled weekday Mass. One of the biggest reasons was that he and his family are not Catholic. It was a lovely ceremony, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Speak with your priest about your concerns, and go with his recommendations.

Luna

 

[BlueEyedLady]

I think you should have mass and receive the Eucharist. But you do need to explain to non Catholic friends and relatives beforehand (in a sensitive manner) what it is and why they should not participate. If you don’t you run the risk of many non Catholics (especially Protestants) going up thinking “Well I’m just as good as they are and Jesus loves me just as much as he loves them”.

Its either that or hire a communion line bouncer

 

[Bearontherun]

I would suggest asking your priest for guidance and advice on this. You may want to consider that if most of the attendees are not actively catholic, even those catholics present may have a hard time giving the Eucharistic celebration their full and active conscious participation. There can be a lot of confusion when people are not aware of when to sit or stand, what responses to make, or how to sing the acclamations.

The marriage of course is still a sacrament whether or not the Eucharistic celebration takes place at the wedding. It will be a “true” catholic wedding whether or not you choose to include the mass.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and may God Bless your marriage.

 

[Phemie]

You could always opt to receive Communion at Mass earlier in the day and have your marriage celebrated within a Liturgy of the Word. That would show both your devotion and your concern for your guests and for the Eucharist which might easily be received by those who should not. Best thing to do is to discuss this with the priest who is preparing you for your wedding.

 

[1ke]

can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

The answer to your question is no.

Any other suggestions?

Stop worrying about what other people think.

This is a sacrament of the Church. They are all big people and can handle an hour long wedding with a Mass. The priest can handle the invitation for those Catholics in a state of grace to receive the Eucharist. If you are truly not going to be at peace if there is a Mass, you can opt for the Marriage Rite outside of Mass.

 

[Leegal]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

It’s your wedding. Have the nuptial Mass and I’m sure there will be friends who can receive Communion.

Have the wedding ceremony you both want – not the one that relatives want. They will get over it, it’s not overwhelming.

 

[KCT]

At our wedding we had an announcement before the Mass and by the priest before Communion" "Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is reserved for baptized Catholics who have properly prepared themselves to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.

At our daughter’s wedding, we had the official version of this printed in the program. I never heard about anyone taking issue with it.

 

[Richard320]

Everyone has covered the question you asked, but I wanted to add something. Get some friends or relatives who are regular Mass-goers to sit near the front, so people know when to sit, stand, or kneel!

By the way, a wedding Mass can be a good evangelization tool. It might be the only Mass someone has ever witnessed. Be sure they find out the only difference between it and a normal Sunday was the exhanging of vows and so on.

 

[Irishmom2]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

First of all, welcome!

If you feel that it is important to receive the Eucharist during your wedding, then you should. It does not matter what non-Catholics or anyone else is feeling that day, it is YOUR day (and your future husbands too. )

I don’t know who is telling you that Catholic weddings are long and boring. They are not. There are so many ways that your guests will feel special if that is your desire–**at your reception. **The wedding though, is not about them. If you truly need to make them a part of your wedding, let them be a reader or greet people coming in, or pass out programs.

Your wedding will be here and gone in a flash. Looking back, I am so glad I chose to have a Nuptial ceremony. It gives you a chance to slow down, take a breath and include Our Lord in your day. Once you are out of the church, the day will become a blur of photos and receiving lines and everything else that goes on at a party. But I remember the church part very clearly.

Wishing you all the best. May God bless you and guide you.

 

[rayne89]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

Yes you can do this. We did this when our marriage was convalidated and I had the same concerns. Just my husband and I received.

 

[domandcarols]

I’ve been to many long, “true” Catholic weddings but none of them were boring.

 

[twoangels]

My boyfriend is Catholic and I am recently converted as well. When we get married I feel that it will be important to receive the Eucharist in our wedding ceremony. However, very few family members, on either side, can receive communion (not Catholic, divorces, etc.). People keep telling me “true” Catholic weddings are long and boring. I do not want to my guests to feel left out, because they cannot receive communion, or overwhelmed by a much longer ceremony…can just the bride and groom receive the Eucharist and the priest do a general blessing for those in attendance??

Any other suggestions?

You can have a wedding without the Mass. It is shorter and involves pretty much the Liturgy of the Word. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is not celebrated. However, I would personally never t to leave out the Eucharist.

My extended family is composed of a lot of non-Catholics or Catholics who rarely go to Mass and aren’t in good standing. We had a full Mass. We had an announcement about receiving communion and the priest reiterated during the homily. We had only a very small group go up to receive the Eucharist. There wasn’t even really a line.

 

[Phemie]

You can have a wedding without the Mass. It is shorter and involves pretty much the Liturgy of the Word. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is not celebrated. However, I would personally never t to leave out the Eucharist.

My extended family is composed of a lot of non-Catholics or Catholics who rarely go to Mass and aren’t in good standing. We had a full Mass. We had an announcement about receiving communion and the priest reiterated during the homily. We had only a very small group go up to receive the Eucharist. There wasn’t even really a line.

I can honestly say that I have never been at a Mass where such an announcement was made, be it wedding, funeral or anything in between and I have never seen it printed on orders of service either. In fact, I’ve never heard a priest in the last 35 years ever mention what is required for Communion and in my parish it’s not rare to see non-Catholics receive Communion. I’ve even seen my former pastor receive ‘Communion’ at the Anglican Church. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the priest we have now would refuse to make such an announcement.

 

[mandajane]

I can honestly say that I have never been at a Mass where such an announcement was made, be it wedding, funeral or anything in between and I have never seen it printed on orders of service either. In fact, I’ve never heard a priest in the last 35 years ever mention what is required for Communion and in my parish it’s not rare to see non-Catholics receive Communion. I’ve even seen my former pastor receive ‘Communion’ at the Anglican Church. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the priest we have now would refuse to make such an announcement.

I’ve seen this all the time in my church, especially during weddings. I know the priest is going to have to make such an announcement at my wedding, as I and my sister are the only catholic members of my family who will be attending. The grooms family, on the other hand, they will be clogging up the aisle

I’m thinking of asking some of my FH’s siblings to sit on ‘my side’ of the church, like a PP mentioned, so that my family knows when they should stand, sit, kneel, etc.

 

[twoangels]

I can honestly say that I have never been at a Mass where such an announcement was made, be it wedding, funeral or anything in between and I have never seen it printed on orders of service either. In fact, I’ve never heard a priest in the last 35 years ever mention what is required for Communion and in my parish it’s not rare to see non-Catholics receive Communion. I’ve even seen my former pastor receive ‘Communion’ at the Anglican Church. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the priest we have now would refuse to make such an announcement.

Oh, boy, our priest went so far as to condemn homosexual marriage in his homily. Honestly, my husband and I were squirming in our seats because we had guests from all different walks of life. Honestly, I wish he hadn’t though. His homily was pretty negative.