How were you married?

[Fashina86]

turboEDvo:

That’s why I say it will be NO and not TLM. My family would be confused, and your family (except your mom) would be pissed. So, I say we head confusion and anger off at the pass and just go with a Mass said in English.

Eamon

okay

 

[Genesis315]

Part of me wants a Tridentine Mass, part of me wants an NO Mass. I think a High Mass wedding would be awesome. That being said, it would be cool if we could bring up the gifts (is this even allowed in an NO wedding?) like we did on our first date (yes, our first date invloved going to Mass and we were asked to bring up the gifts ).

I will not settle for some wedding service as is often done nowadays. I need a Mass offered for my marriage.

 

[davy39]

We were first married in a local Methodist church. (Stupidity). Then 11 years later, my wife went through rcia, I went along with her and I learned a lot I had been missing out on since I quit going to Mass. She joined the church, I re-affirmed my faith, and we had our marriage solumnized in a local Catholic church. The church is now part of our lives, and we would never leave it now. We have been married for 26 years now, and it’s been great.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

alessandro:

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

Hubby and I got engaged Christmas of 98 (after knowing eachother for only 7 months… I highly recommend waithing longer) and were married in July of 99. We had originally planned for an October wedding, but he is in the military and plans had to change when he was told he would be going to Kosovo in August.

We did a pre-cana course through our parish. It was about 2 months long (I think) with classes once a week. It was really good. I know they offer shorter pre-cana sessions, but I really enjoyed the program and meeting the other engaged couples.

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

We were married in our Catholic parish (my home city), but did not have a Mass because I was not yet Catholic at the time.

We had a reception at a local community hall with about 250 guests. Almost all of those were family members on my dad’s side.

To tell you the truth, I don’t remember a lot about that entire day. The wedding and reception are one big blur. I do remember how exhausted I was by that night… and how my veil was pinned so well into my hair that I couldn’t get it out and almost had to sleep with it stuck there, lol.

A few days later we booked a last minute honeymoon (with money received as gifts) to Florida for a week. A couple of days after we got home, he left for 5 months to Kosovo.

I was a newlywed by myself. I think we figured out that in our first 2 years of marriage, we were only together for less than an actual year with him going away so much. It defintely made things challenging.

I think if I were given the choice to do it all again, I would get married in a beautiful location (like the mountains or a beach) with just immediate family and close friends.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a faith. But my hubby was/is Catholic and was firm on his beliefs. I wish I had been Catholic too.

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

I went from being a “semi-athiest—I believe in something” to a devout, practicing, conservative Catholic thanks to God’s grace and my hubby’s patience.

I have an entirely different view now of marriage, sex, children, God, the Church… everything important.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Genesis315:

Part of me wants a Tridentine Mass, part of me wants an NO Mass. I think a High Mass wedding would be awesome. That being said, it would be cool if we could bring up the gifts (is this even allowed in an NO wedding?) like we did on our first date (yes, our first date invloved going to Mass and we were asked to bring up the gifts ).

I will not settle for some wedding service as is often done nowadays. I need a Mass offered for my marriage.

In a NO you can bring up the gifts, no worries. It’s the TM that has them already up and waiting.

 

[Mt19_26]

Originally married in a non-Catholic church. But in 1998 had the marriage convalidated during a nuptial Mass.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

…When Alessandro and Elizabeth have a start on this, they will fill us in? I am DYING of anticipation!:bounce:

 

[susie_g]

We dated for about a year and a half before we got engaged. The engagement was 5 months long. I was in RCIA at the time, my now-husband was Catholic. I didn’t know that we needed to have a Catholic wedding, so we got married at my Baptist church where I grew up and my father (a pastor) officiated. It was beautiful, with Scripture readings, and a reading from Mother Teresa. Later on we found out that we still needed our marriage sacramentalized, and we met with our favorite priest and he blessed it for us.

 

[TarAshly]

alessandro:

Thanks be to God, I am now engaged to a beautiful, intelligent and charming young woman, Elizabeth. She shares many of my goals and aspirations (among which is to have lots of kids), and will make a great mom one day – hopefully starting in a couple of years!

My questions for you are four-fold:

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it? we were engaged for 1 year after dating for a year and being friends for about 8 years.

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories. we had a beautiful Catholic Church wedding. We were married in Katy, where i was living.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process? we presented flowers to Mary, we had our readings from the Bible. i even had a rosary in my bouquet.

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

It has strengthened SO much more. Marriage is a gift from God, and God is the center of our marriage.

Bolded by me.

 

[Michelle_in_KC]

My questions for you are four-fold:

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

(1) We were engaged 10 months. We had a relationship for 1.5 years before we got engaged. Yes, we did pre-cana along with the priest who married us. He guided us through our discussions of the questions and our answers.

(2) We had the Nuptial Mass. The only thing I would advise if going that route is to be sure and specify appropriate clothing. I thought it was a given, but two of my husband’s nieces carried up the gifts wearing WAY TOO SHORT camisole dresses (spaghetti straps). Of course, I hadn’t seen them before - hand so the first time I saw them was turning around in the mass to accept the gifts to give to the priest. I was just about mortified about it. I realize it really speaks to their parents for allowing it…but I should have been more forthright in my expectations of what people wear to church.

(3) We went through the diocesan marriage preparation program. I must say, my husband and I were less faithful to the Church when we got married than we are now (planned to contracept…spotty mass attendance, etc.) but we tried.

(4) Our faith has grown immensely. It is truly a tribute to the Grace God bestows through the sacrament of marriage. After contracepting for a little over a year, we got pregnant with our first baby the first (or second) cycle after stopping that. I think the turning point for me was having our dd#1 baptized and listening to myself recite the vows (promises…whatever they are called) about raising her in the Catholic Faith and passing it on. I remember thinking…I better be sure I know what I need to teach her! And so the journey began.

My husband and I never prayed together before we got married and hardly prayed together afterwards (just before meals) until we started taking NFP classes and learning lots of things about what the Church teaches and why. Over the past 4.5 years, I’d have to say that our faith in God, each other and our Holy Mother Church has grown many times over. We now pray a Family Rosary nightly with our girls (age 4 and 2) and are pregnant with our third child. We NEVER miss mass. I try to get to confession at least once every 4-6 weeks. (I don’t know about my hubby…I know he often goes whenever I say I have to go). I read more books about our Faith, I study the Catechism, I read the Bible…I could go on.

God Bless you in your marriage!

 

[Richardols]

(1) How long were you engaged?

Were college classmates, didn’t date until last semester before graduation, dated for some 2 years, engaged for six months.

Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

No such animal back then.

How were you married?

Church ceremony and Mass at my wife’s home parish. Tridentine Mass.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

I guess that a Mass and Sarcrament ensured that.

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

Hasn’t.

 

[space_ghost]

…now don’t go assuming…

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[DonnaML]

1. We were engaged for 15 months prior to our wedding but we started dating in high school so we knew each other a long time. We did Pre-Canna but my husband was not a practicing Catholic and went begrudgingly. I found that if you were young or had not dated for long, Pre-Canna was especially insightful.
2. We were married in my church which was also the church my parents were married at. It was a Mass and it was beautiful!
3. Our wedding was centered around faith, however, after we were married, I slowly fell away from the church and am now just reconnecting.
4. Unfortunately I followed my husband rather than vice versa. I’ve always prayed but did not attend Mass. I am just now coming back.

 

[contemplative]

alessandro:

Thanks be to God, I am now engaged to a beautiful, intelligent and charming young woman, Elizabeth. She shares many of my goals and aspirations (among which is to have lots of kids), and will make a great mom one day – hopefully starting in a couple of years! God’s Blessings to both of you!

My questions for you are four-fold:

(1) How long were you engaged? We knew each other for 6 months and were engaged for 1 year. Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it? Engagement Encounter Weekend We had a great hosting couple.

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process? Together we picked appropriate hymns and readings.

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married? Our Faith has grown stronger steadily throughout the years sometimes in different ways. Although we are married we remain individuals able to have a relationship alone with God. Married 23 years this September

 

[eaputzer]

My questions for you are four-fold:

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?
We were engaged for 1 year and 5 months. We dated for 2 years previous. We did the pre-cana: it was one evening we set up with the priest since my husband was working in a different city at thetime. We also did the engaged-encounter on a weekend.

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.
Ours was a ceremony in a Catholic church in my hometown. It included a mass on the urging of my mother-in-law… and also came to be because the priest that was there moved to another church in the parish and we got a priest new to the city. This old priest said “no-way” to a mass, but we got the new one to do it no problem. (sad it was that my friend got married two weeks after us and was not allowed a mass because she got that old priest at her church). It was also “tradition” at this church not to kneel during the consecration… but since that old priest had left, no one knew. So during the wedding, my husband and I were at kneelers in the front. At the consecration, we kneeled down and everyone else behind us followed suit! It was wonderful.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?
Like I said, we got the mass, which at the time, was not important to me, but now (4 years later), I’m so glad that we had it and got all the graces we did.
(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?
With the great start of the wedding,our faith has grown. Eventhough it didn’t seem very important at the time, I think it has helped us grow together with God. And it has definately helped us with perspective when dealing with our two boys!

 

[Giannawannabe]

alessandro:

Thanks be to God, I am now engaged to a beautiful, intelligent and charming young woman, Elizabeth. She shares many of my goals and aspirations (among which is to have lots of kids), and will make a great mom one day – hopefully starting in a couple of years!

My questions for you are four-fold:

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

(1) We were engaged for 7 months, but dated 4 1/2 years. We grew up together and attended the same Church we were married in. We did pre-cana–it was a weekend retreat class.

(2)As above, married in the church we both attended as we grew up. DH was an altar boy and I played the organ. We have a Mass with the priest we both knew and loved from our childhoods.

(3) We assured our Faith a prominent role, by having a Mass,modest attire for bride and bridesmaids, knelt for the blessings, and had a special time for devotion to Mary.

(4) Our Faith is much stronger now than when we married. We’ve been married for 18 years and have three children. We’ve had many stresses–loss of children, infertility, job loss, severe financial setbacks, deaths in immediate families, etc., but we weathered them well since we had faith–and weathering these stressors increased our faith.

Congratulations and many blessings for a happy and holy marriage!!!

 

[La_Chiara]

Giannawannabe:

Our Faith is much stronger now than when we married. We’ve been married for 18 years and have three children. We’ve had many stresses–loss of children, infertility, job loss, severe financial setbacks, deaths in immediate families, etc., but we weathered them well since we had faith–and weathering these stressors increased our faith.

That is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing and God bless you!

 

[tmn379]

(1) How long were you engaged? Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

My wife and I knew each other for 5 years before we started dating; we dated for 5 years; and we were engaged for 10 months (We will have been married 11 years in one week…). We went through the “Three to get married” program.

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

We had a nuptial Mass in English concelebrated by the pastor and associate pastor of our parish (St. Ignatius in Hickory, MD). My wife and I for the most part grew up in adjacent towns, but we went to different churches. When I finished graduate school, we started attending the same parish. Where we both became members of the choir (the director of which was my high school’s chorus teacher). St. Ignatius Church is the oldest church in Maryland that has been in continuous use since it opened. The church is really beautiful, but it was undergoing an historical restoration at the time we got married, so we got married in the Parish center. We also had the reception in the parish center, as well. So the wedding just moved down the hall for the reception… When we asked our pastor about using the parish center for the reception, he told us that would be fine and he wouldn’t even charge us to use it. A moment later, our normally very frugal pastor shook his head and said, “I don’t know what’s come over me.”

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

God gave us an unexpected series of gifts leading up to the wedding that allowed us to concentrate on the ceremony itself. A woman we met during our marriage prep classes came to us and offered to make our wedding cake for the cost of materials. The fiance of our friend who sang the solo music at our wedding offered to be the DJ for the reception and several members of the choir volunteered to prepare and serve the food for our reception.

So I guess I would say, it wasn’t so much that we ensured that our faith was part-and-parcel of the process, but rather God relieved us of many mundane concerns that allowed us to concentrate on the ceremony and the spiritual preparations.

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

So after 11 years and 5 children (+1 in December), I think I have grown to appreciate the many ways that God provides for our needs both temporal and spiritual. I’ve also learned to appreciate (or perhaps notice) the many small miracles that make up our daily lives…

 

[rayne89]

alessandro:

(1) How long were you engaged?

Hmm… hard to say 1st time he ask me to marry him was in my highschool year book. We broke up a few times and got back together. The last time he asked me it was Nov. '90 (he was in boot camp) and we married in Feb.'91

alessandro:

Did you do pre-cana? If so, how long did you do it?

Nope

alessandro:

(2) How were you married? What kind of ceremony-- civil ceremony, church ceremony, church ceremony with mass? Where did you do it – in the bride’s home town, an exotic beach, Europe? I’d enjoy hearing lots of stories.

Wedding chapel. I was 2 weeks shy of my 19th b-day. Hubby wasn’t any religion at the time, my parents we against me getting married and I really wasn’t practicing my faith.

alessandro:

(3) How did you ensure that your Faith was part-and-parcel of the the wedding process?

At the time I did very much believe in God but really had no understanding of what it meant to be Catholic.

alessandro:

(4) How has your Faith changed after being married?

Grown by leaps and bounds. The birth of our daughter actually started my reversion. Hubby followed a couple years later. We actually finally had our marriage convalidated last summer. It was a beautiful ceremony.

 

[joanneh]

We began dating in January, engaged in October, married in December. Whoooaaaaa, you might think, but let me say our families knew each other for years as my husband was a classmate in school of a couple of my brothers.So we grew up in the same small town where the only church was a Catholic church; so we saw each other at Mass for years too. You might say we were right under each others’ noses. But we didn’t began to date till he was 22 and I was 20. We have now been married almost 33 years. No special prep classes other than we met with our pastor and he told us “oh, you two come from good Catholic families” so you can meet with me a couple of times and that would suffice. Now that our daughters are married I am amazed the “hoops” they have had to go through to get married in the church. We were married in our home parish with a Nuptial Mass. Our faith was always important and grown only stronger. Partly with our struggle to have children and I lost my parents very close together when our daughters were preschool.At the time I screamed and said why , why . But finally got the message through my thick skull. Our Lord had teach me , I LOVE YOU. Simple, huh. But it finally got through. Praise Him.