How do I respond to a request to sponsor a wedding?

[Marip1126]

I have a nun friend who approached my husband and me to ask if we could be the wedding sponsor of a couple just introduced to us at that moment. My husband and I did not give her a correct answer. I would like to know the rules of the Church regarding this matter.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

From what I understand from brief research on the Internet, a wedding sponsor is a Hispanic social custom (as distinguished from a religious office or obligation) in which a married couple provides monetary, emotional, and spiritual support to the bride and groom at the time of their wedding and for the first few years of their marriage.

If this kind of duty was what your nun friend was asking of you, I can’t imagine a greater presumption that could be made upon a friendship than to ask that you financially, emotionally, and spiritually support a couple to whom you’ve just been introduced. One may only hope that your friend did not realize the full extent of the role she was asking you to undertake, because, if she did realize it, then there could hardly be an “incorrect” answer to be politely given to such an outrageous request. Had you managed to control your shock, you might have said:

“Sister, we couldn’t presume to take on so intimate an obligation for a couple whom we’ve only just now had the pleasure of meeting. We would be delighted to pray for this couple, but feel that such an honor as you propose should be offered to close friends or godparents of the couple.”