), but I would probably do it just a little different. What I would do is have a Catholic church marriage ceremony in my home parish with just a very small amount of family present. Then have a wedding at a fun destination. That way the sacrament is observed reverently and you still have the “party.”
There are several valid counter points people raise. (1) The cost to travel to the location is often a burden on those invited, including close family members. (2) The knowing exclusion of those who cannot afford to go, or those who are too old to get on a plane, etc. (3) The rather cold and impersonal situation of “selecting” a Church to have the wedding Mass. (4) The couple’s inability to acknowledge that a wedding is meant to be a public witness to others, for people to see them bound together as one by God. (5) Oftentimes family members are forced to attend those weddings even though they have serious reservations about attending, and even though they might have wanted to spend their money in other ways, and what happens if a close family member just plain objects to the location…it all seems so self centered, and there seems to be such a lack of focus on God.
One may not have another wedding ceremony after the Catholic ceremony. But one may certainly have a nice, big reception!What I would do is have a Catholic church marriage ceremony in my home parish with just a very small amount of family present. Then have a wedding at a fun destination. That way the sacrament is observed reverently and you still have the “party.”
It sounds like a headache. First, you have to find a parish in LV that is willing to allow a wedding for non-parishioners. Second, you have to get your own pastor’s permission. Two priests have to coordinate for the pre-marital paperwork and the pre-cana counseling.
I’ve heard of a couple doing this when the bride wasn’t American. It was just easier for the paperwork for her to marry her American husband in the US, and then to have the two of them go back to her home country for the festivities. You can’t do the ceremony twice, but there is nothing preventing gathering for a Mass before the reception!
I don’t think you read what I wrote.
A renewal of vows, no. The Church has instructions for a rite within the Mass for jubilee wedding anniversaries and a ritual Mass for jubilee anniversaries (25, 50, etc). It is not exactly a vow renewal, it is really a blessing with some special texts. The US Bishop’s Conference also has its own rite for jubilee anniversaries within the Mass.
I’m confused… Two of my siblings and two cousins married people from other countries, had a nuptual Mass in those countries, then came back to the US within 8 weeks for a “renewal of vows” Mass for all the family and friends that could not travel overseas for the original wedding. This has all been within the past 10 years and at three different parishes in our diocese.
My sister also was married in the states then had a renewal of vows ceremony with the rest of her family that could not make it in another country. I don’t see why this would be in any way inappropriate.
This couple did have the option of having a legal wedding in the US, with the nuptial Mass before or after. They opted to have their “legal” US wedding done by a priest at a small gathering in the town where they had attended college and intended to live after graduation, because of the number of close friends who couldn’t travel (Personally, I think they also didn’t want to wait to be really married and move in together, but that is conjecture on my part!)
Agree completely. You’re basically saying “pay $2500, or don’t come to my wedding”. If you want to elope, fine, but don’t put that burden on your family and friends.
My personal thoughts, not a fan. I respect that other people have different opinions on destination weddings, but for me it was very important to enter the Sacrament of Matrimony surrounded by as many family and friends as possible, in a setting (family parish) where other family members had received the sacraments over the years. Our focus was on the Sacrament, not the party.
Exactly–focus on what’s important.
You can’t generalize because that depends where you live. The Canadian Rite of Marriage has a Renewal of Vows ceremony that sends you back to the Rite of Marriage for the vows to be used. Renewal is mentioned in both the introduction and in the comments that follow the vows but the vows are exactly the same.
Sorry, Phemie, but I am not surprised that Canada has done this. What a shame.
Because the rites prescribed by the Church are for jubilee celebrations, and are within the context of the Mass. The comment was about having a “renewal of vows” at the reception/destination. Since the rite is within the Mass and it is for jubilee celebrations, the couple in question would meet neither of those elements.