How does marriage between a Catholic & Catechumen/Non Baptise work?

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What would usually go down with a marriage between a Catholic groom & Catechumen/non baptized bride? What would it still have? What would be left out? Is it a valid marriage? How would the procession go? What days is it allowed to be on? What time of the day do they usually go on? Who would conduct the wedding? Is there anything else that is important?
 
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It’s not all that different from a wedding between 2 Catholics, as far as I’m aware. Our deacon did recommend that we leave out the Eucharist since I wasn’t Catholic at the time of our wedding. But that’s at the discretion of the couple.

It is a valid marriage if done through the Church. The day restrictions would depend on the parish’s scheduling. It’s also unlikely to be allowed during Lent (a penitential season) and may not be allowed or be discouraged during Advent (a time of anticipation). Time of day depends on the parish but ime is similar to the timing of other weddings in our area (normally early afternoon). The presider would be either a Catholic priest or deacon.

Something else to consider is location. Generally it should be in a Catholic church (not outside or in a random other place). That said, dispensations can be granted in some dioceses for sufficient reason. In our case, we got married in the Baptist church I grew up in with our Catholic deacon presiding for a few reasons (primarily for my family).

The USCCB has a website for marriages including a section for engagement and wedding planning. Planning a Catholic Wedding - For Your Marriage
 
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and I’m noticing now that I answered all about the wedding. Did you have any surviving questions about marriage itself and how it is different from the Catholic perspective?
 
I would love to hear about the catholic perspective if you don’t mind?
 
For the marriage itself, I’d say one of the biggest differences is children. Contraception is forbidden with Natural Family Planning or complete abstinence being the only ways to delay or avoid pregnancy. This doesn’t mean that you have to have a large family but it is a different way of living and approaching family planning. On the flip side, there are also limitations on options to explore if infertility or recurrent loss occur.

Another thing to consider is how to best support your spouse in raising the children Catholic. The Catholic party promises to do everything within their power to raise their children Catholic. So that will include making sure they receive their sacraments, attend Mass, and learn the faith. That doesn’t technically require the non-Catholic to do anything in particular but it’s very helpful to have both parents on board.

I’d also recommend really investing in the marriage prep. It’s generally meant to really prepare your relationship for marriage and not just the wedding. Obviously individual experiences will vary but my husband and I were fortunate to have stellar prep that really helped us prepare for marriage and family life.
 
Perspective of raising a stepchild that is illegitimate?
 
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That’s not something I know much about so I’ll leave that to someone with more experience to comment on. Your parish may have more guidance there as well.
 
jlc2k2 said:
Our deacon did recommend that we leave out the Eucharist since I wasn’t Catholic at the time of our wedding. But that’s at the discretion of the couple.
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We didn’t have communion in our wedding. With myself not being Catholic, we didn’t want a part of our wedding that myself and my side of the church would be mere observers while her side participated.

With that said: In this case (with one spouse not being baptized), many parishes won’t allow the wedding to take place within the Mass so the couple doesn’t even get a choice, there is no communion.
 
TRLarsen said:
What would usually go down with a marriage between a Catholic groom & Catechumen/non baptized bride? What would it still have? What would be left out? Is it a valid marriage? How would the procession go? What days is it allowed to be on? What time of the day do they usually go on? Who would conduct the wedding? Is there anything else that is important?
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That’s a lot of detailed questions. Have you talked to your pastor about marriage preparation in the Catholic Church?

All couples approaching the church for marriage go through premarital preparation, the specifics of which vary by diocese, and the investigation of freedom to marry which documents that each person is able to marry validly.

And, in the case of a Catholic marrying an unbaptized person, there are additional things that must be discussed with the pastor and through the pastor the Catholic seeks a dispensation from disparity of cult from the bishop to marry the unbaptized person.

Regarding the ceremony, it takes place on any day and time not prohibited by the Church (such as certain feast days, Holy Week, etc). Your pastor will discuss what times he makes available for weddings-- some parishes have many activities and only set aside certain blocks of times while others may be very flexible with the time the couple desires.

When a Catholic marries a non-Catholic, the Marriage Rite is typically done outside of Mass. So it follows the liturgy specified for the Marriage Rite Outside of Mass.
TRLarsen said:
Is there anything else that is important?
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Yes, make an appointment to speak to your pastor.
 
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TRLarsen said:
Catholic groom & Catechumen/non baptized bride
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A “catechumen” is a person who is in the process of becoming a Catholic. An unbaptized person may or may not be a catechumen.

When marrying a non-Catholic, a Catholic makes promises regarding raising children Catholic. The non-Catholic does not make promises but is informed of them.

If the catechumen is on their way into the church then that probably takes care of a lot of issues that often arise in a marriage of this type.
 
Sweetie, slow your roll there!
Talk to your boyfriend–has he asked you/have you discussed marriage?
Talk to his/your priest, he can guide you in your journey.
Is this about a wedding or a marriage?
Again, if you are to undertake the journey, take slow, careful, well thought out steps.
All the best to you!
 
Sorry about that, he had recently said that he would like a church wedding and I just wanted to know some things before it would happen
 
Easy to get excited!
But a wedding is one day, a marriage a lifetime <3
 
TRLarsen said:
Sorry about that, he had recently said that he would like a church wedding and I just wanted to know some things before it would happen
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You’ll need to go to pre-marriage counseling, but the wedding itself: Like I said, we had our wedding outside of Mass. It was basically like any other Christian wedding you probably have attended. I would talk to the parish though. In my experience, sometimes with weddings between a Catholic and non-Catholic we had to go through a bit of a “run-around”.

Which reminds me; he’ll need to get a dispensation (permission) from the bishop. Usually not that big of deal.
 
Not trying to sound snarky but did he say a wedding with you ?
It’s really easy to fall in to wedding planning–it’s a party.
Please make sure it’s a life you are both discussing!
TRLarsen said:
he had recently said that he would like a church wedding
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My husband was not baptized at the time of our wedding. Our marriage was considered valid but not sacramental. It was explained to me that it could not take place in a Mass as it was not sacramental. It was more of a liturgical service. Our marriage become sacramental when my husband was baptized 2-ish years later.
 
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