Wedding Procession

[Bliss]

My fiance and I are getting ready for our wedding next month. We have been meeting with our Priest and he has given us some instruction that we wood like somemore information about. He told us that in regards to the procession at the beginning of Mass the Church teaches that it is not proper for the father to walk the bride down the isle. We have been told that the only options are walking together or with both parents. Any information would be very helpful.

 

[Trevelyan]

I have a friend who had a very Catholic wedding, and he told me he and his wife walked each other down the aisle. Because the procession is for the ministers in a Liturgical celebration and at a wedding, the ministers are the bride and groom - administering the sacrament to each other (with the Priest as a witness for the Church). No-one ‘gives away’ the bride, but she is one of the ones actually administering the sacrament. That’s alI know, but walking each other down the aisle does show a true understanding of the sacrament.

 

[hk102003]

I recently went to a Catholic wedding, and both parents walked the bride down the aisle. I didn’t know the liturgical reason for it, though.

 

[cmom]

I don’t recall this in the marriage norms, but I think both parents walking you down the aisle a great idea. After all they both raised you. Iknow I had both my parents walk me down and that was back ithe dark ages.

 

[Beverly]

My daughter was married a year ago and in studying the Catholic wedding rite, I do know that I was surprised to read that the bride and groom are supposed to walk down the aisle together as part of the procession. However, I have never seen it done this way at our church. She had a beautiful wedding mass but she did choose to have her father walk her down the aisle to where her groom was waiting with the priest and the rest of the wedding party. If our priests had insisted that she walk down the aisle with the groom, they would have but since they didn’t, she opted for the traditional “giving away”. She didn’t feel being “given away” was degrading to her. She was her daddy’s little girl and he was symbolically giving her to her husband. Not as a possession but as a precious gift to be cherished. What’s so bad about that? It all depends on how you look at it. And yes, a lot of people do not realize that the sacrament of marriage is conferred by the bride and groom on each other.

 

[system]

Bliss:

My fiance and I are getting ready for our wedding next month. We have been meeting with our Priest and he has given us some instruction that we wood like somemore information about. He told us that in regards to the procession at the beginning of Mass the Church teaches that it is not proper for the father to walk the bride down the isle. We have been told that the only options are walking together or with both parents. Any information would be very helpful.

I would have to disagree with your priest that it is not proper for the father to walk his daughter down the isle. I am looking at my Rite of Marriage and it gives the minister and the couple a lot of options.

In the instructions to the Rite it allows for adaptations for local customs.

RITE FOR CELEBRATING MARRIAGE DURING MASS
ENTRANCE RITE

1. At the appointed time, the priest, vested for Mass, goes with the ministers to the door of the church or, if more suitable, to the altar. There he greets the bride and bridegroom in a friendly manner, showing that the Church shares their joy.

Where it is desirable that the rite of welcome be omitted, the celebration of marriage begins at once with the Mass.

1. If there is a procession to the altar, the ministers go first, followed by the priest, and then the bride and bridegroom. According to local custom, they may be escorted by at least their parents and the two witnesses. Meanwhile, the entrance song is sung.

I think it is the minister resposibility to work with the couple and to assist in making this Sacrament as meaningful as possible for them. This is why they have options of Opening Prayers, Scripture Reading, Consent, Blessing of Rings, General Intercessions, Prayer over the Gifts, Preface, Nuptial Blessing, Prayer after Communion, Final Blessing. I would never refuse to allow a bride to walk down the isle with her father.

DigitalDeacon