What you won't see at a Catholic Wedding

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That is interesting, as I have never been to a Catholic wedding (or at least, I wasn’t old enough at the time to remember the details). So does the bride walk down the aisle with her father as she would do in most non-Catholic church weddings?
 
EnglishTeacher said:
That is interesting, as I have never been to a Catholic wedding (or at least, I wasn’t old enough at the time to remember the details). So does the bride walk down the aisle with her father as she would do in most non-Catholic church weddings?
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In the ones that I have been to yes.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
That is interesting, as I have never been to a Catholic wedding (or at least, I wasn’t old enough at the time to remember the details). So does the bride walk down the aisle with her father as she would do in most non-Catholic church weddings?
Click to expand...
We had a Catholic wedding and my father walked me down the aisle.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
That is interesting, as I have never been to a Catholic wedding (or at least, I wasn’t old enough at the time to remember the details). So does the bride walk down the aisle with her father as she would do in most non-Catholic church weddings?
Click to expand...
While the bride walking down the aisle with her dad while groom waits at the altar is not what the ritual calls for, it does happen at most weddings, simply because most priests don’t present the ritual option. In parishes where they impose the ritual’s preference we’ve seen anger spewed to the Press.

When I got married 35 years ago, we had a modified version of the ritual, as the priest indicated was going to happen: DH and I were greeted at the church door by the priest. We walked in procession with him but I still walked in with Dad; DH processed right in front of me with his Best Man. Two years later, my brother and his wife entered one behind the other, accompanied by their parents, Best Man and Maid of Honour.

The Ritual suggests that the bride and groom greet their guests at the church door as they arrive for the ceremony. Then the priest comes to greet the B&G at the door. The Entrance Procession then occurs and the ritual calls for the B&G to process in last, side by side. They can be accompanied in the procession by their parents and witnesses, who walk ahead of them.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
That is interesting, as I have never been to a Catholic wedding (or at least, I wasn’t old enough at the time to remember the details). So does the bride walk down the aisle with her father as she would do in most non-Catholic church weddings?
Click to expand...
No, she would process with her husband.
 
As others have said, the actual ritual is for the fiances to walk down the aisle together. BUT, for almost all the Catholic weddings I’ve every cantored or attended, it was mostly the father and daughter walking down together, some both parents walked down the aisle with their daughter or just the bride herself. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen it done the other way. Many years back, long before I was ever cantoring, my former parish did try to enact this. It caused such an uproar that the pastor decided that it wasn’t worth the acrimony and aggravation dealing with 80 + brides. They did between 80 - 100 weddings a year. Most wanted to walk down the aisle with their fathers. I found out that some were in tears when the nun showed up on the wedding day (she was the one implementing the change) was trying to make them do it the “right” way.

And, when I was married, I had NO CLUE about this. I didn’t know until I joined CAF, actually. No one ever mentioned the proper processional to us during our marriage prep or rehearsal. I’m guessing that this is probably the case at most parishes, as I freelance all over the place for weddings and the music sheets I see from each of these parishes has the “traditional” mothers processing down the aisle first, then bridesmaid procession, followed by the bride’s procession with the groom already up front.
 
TheMc said:
I know it’s rarely done, but isn’t it the only licit option?
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I don’t think so, IIRC there is mention of the priest greeting the couple at the altar and also allowance for local custom.
 
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