need some help with catholic ceremony

[janinegirly]

hi all, we''re leaning towards a catholic mass (vs just ceremony) and i''m trying to figure out the order and choices i need to make (so i can put together a program).
i''ve never been to a catholic wedding ceremony with mass--so wondering if some of you ladies could help. i will go to our priest with more specific ques of course, but thought i''d ask here first!

*Prayer of the Faithful--is this required and is this another area where we need to select a reader? how does it usually flow?

*Presentation of Gifts--is this just like it is during normal mass (collection of money). who does the collecting and presenting typically?

*what happens in the sign of peace?

*will it be ok if we don''t have a singer?

And lastly, are some of you choosing a ceremony over a mass and if so , why?

thanks girls..

 

[whatmeworry]

Date: 8/13/2007 11:59:13 AM
Author:janinegirly
hi all, we''re leaning towards a catholic mass (vs just ceremony) and i''m trying to figure out the order and choices i need to make (so i can put together a program).
i''ve never been to a catholic wedding ceremony with mass--so wondering if some of you ladies could help. i will go to our priest with more specific ques of course, but thought i''d ask here first!

*Prayer of the Faithful--is this required and is this another area where we need to select a reader? how does it usually flow?
No need to select a reader The priest will ask the congregation to pray for other leaders, the sick, those who have departed, those who are suffering etc. And the congregation answers each request by "Lord hear our prayer".

*Presentation of Gifts--is this just like it is during normal mass (collection of money). who does the collecting and presenting typically?

The church ushers will collect the money (or you might have to get your groomsmen to do this). You can pick two people who will bring up the bread and wine. Just like normal mass.

*what happens in the sign of peace?

You offer a sign of peace to people around you. In the U.S. you shake hands and say "Peace be with you". Or if it''s a close relative you could give them a hug and peck.

*will it be ok if we don''t have a singer?

Yes.

And lastly, are some of you choosing a ceremony over a mass and if so , why?

thanks girls..

 

[jcrow]

Date: 8/13/2007 11:59:13 AM
Author:janinegirly
hi all, we''re leaning towards a catholic mass (vs just ceremony) and i''m trying to figure out the order and choices i need to make (so i can put together a program).
i''ve never been to a catholic wedding ceremony with mass--so wondering if some of you ladies could help. i will go to our priest with more specific ques of course, but thought i''d ask here first!

*Prayer of the Faithful--is this required and is this another area where we need to select a reader? how does it usually flow?

*Presentation of Gifts--is this just like it is during normal mass (collection of money). who does the collecting and presenting typically?

*what happens in the sign of peace?

*will it be ok if we don''t have a singer?

And lastly, are some of you choosing a ceremony over a mass and if so , why?

thanks girls..

here is the catholic knot bio that may belp with your questions.

we didn''t do a mass. we just had the catholic ceremony. we didn''t have a singer. we chose not to have a mass b/c dh and his family are not catholic. i thought it would be a bit much for us to have the full on mass. this is a personal decision of course. this was the right chose for us.

 

[jcrow]

oh, and we had 3 readers. we could have had 2 though.
one to read the First Reading(Old Testament), Responsorial Psalm, and Second Reading (New Testament). and i believe they were in that order.

oh and... as far as the program - our church had an example to work from. and after we made our program, we had to get the church to approve it. it put my mind at ease, knowing someone else was checking to make sure it was correct (as far as order, etc.)

 

[janinegirly]

thanks girls, this is a big help?

any suggestions for catholic wedding program templates?

 

[labbielove]

If you contact your parish, or any catholic parish near you, there is a book we got at PreCana called Together for Life, with a version for mass and a version for ceremony only.
It does a great job of outlining the parts you need,etc.

We are not having a mass because most of our guests are not Catholic and frankly the chapel we are getting married in only has a center aisle, and I couldn''t bear to watch Catholics crawl over non-Catholics in an effort to get communion.

even if we wanted communion the chapel we are using has been moved from its original churchgrounds so no blessing of the eucharist can be done there, only a communion service (deacon would bring the blessed host), which we are not opting for.

check out the Catholic bride bio at www.magnificentbliss.com (under specialty bios)
and they probably have a link to a program outline.

 

[Munchkin]

*Prayer of the Faithful--is this required and is this another area where we need to select a reader? how does it usually flow?
You can either write your own or choose one from the guidebook. (Together for life) Most Catholic weddings I go to, a reader is selected from friends/family. We selected someone we are close to, but who isn''t Catholic. We thought it was a perfect match as our readings were VERY catholic, but our prayer of the faithful was about praying for the miitary, the sick, the lonely, etc. Stuff that doesn''t pertain to any particular religion.
*Presentation of Gifts--is this just like it is during normal mass (collection of money). who does the collecting and presenting typically?
I''ve never been to a Catholic wedding where money baskets are passed.
Presentation of the giftscan be done by anyone, but is often parents ormoms of the couple.
*what happens in the sign of peace?
You have the option of just giving peace to each other, each other and the wedding party, wedding party and parents, etc. The options are listed in the tear-out section of Together for Life.
*will it be ok if we don''t have a singer?
Absolutely


We did a full mass two weeks ago, so it is all still fresh in my mind!

I made our programs. I did not use a template. I simply listed headings as listed in Together for Life and then listed our choices.
I will make another post of how it broke down.

 

[jcrow]

we didn''t get to chose our prayers to the faithful.
and i agree, i don''t think i''ve ever seen money collected during a wedding.

 

[Munchkin]

We used a simple folded card type program.

On the front we wrote our names, the date, the church, etc.

On the back cover we wrote "personal intentions" thanking people and listing the deceased family members who could not be with us. Underneath that we listed directions from the church to the reception.

Ok, left inside page:

Celebrants
priests names

Parents of the Bride
names

Parents of the Groom
names

Maid of Honor
Sister''s name.................................Sister of the Bride

Bridesmaids
Names..........................................Relationship to Bride

Best Man
DH''s Bro''s Name............................Brother of the Groom

Groomsmen
Names..........................................Relationship to Groom

Readers
Name............................................Tobit 8:4-8
Name............................................Romans 12:1-2, 9-18
Name............................................Prayer of the Faithful

Giftbearers
Mom''s name
Mil''s name

Soloist
Singer''s name



Right inside page:

Seating of the Mothers
Song...........................................Composer
Attendant Procession
Song...........................................Composer
Bride''s Procession
Song...........................................Composer

Greeting

Liturgy of the Word
First Reading...............................Tobit 8:4-8
Responsorial Psalm....................we listed title
Second Reading...........................Romans 12:1-2, 9-18
Gospel Acclamation
Gospel Reading............................Matthew 5:1-12
Homily

The Rite of Marriage
Address
Declaration of Consent
Exchange of Vows
Blessing and Exchange of Rings
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (totally optional thing we did)
Prayer of the Faithful

Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presentation of the Gifts.........................Song
Prayer over the gifts
Eucharistic Prayer
Communion Rite
Lord''s Prayer
Nuptial Blessing
Sign of Peace
Communion..........................................Song
Meditation............................................Song

Concluding Rites

Presentation of the Couple

Recessional..........................................Song

HTH!