catholic church wedding

ok so we are getting married at fh church. I don't really know too much about the whole ceremony/church.
We are also on a very tight time restraint. church is at 11 am and cocktail hr is at 1 pm and they are 45 min apart.
so we were going to cut out the unity candle and make an anouncement that the receiving line needs to move fast b/c of time reasons. Is there anything else we can do to shorten it. we aren't having a mass either.
also do we have to pick readers? and what exactly do we need to pick for the ceremony as far as music, readings and anything else Im forgetting??
any help is appreciated.

Re: catholic church wedding

---

Posted by heatherfaith

ok so we are getting married at fh church. I don't really know too much about the whole ceremony/church.
We are also on a very tight time restraint. church is at 11 am and cocktail hr is at 1 pm and they are 45 min apart.
so we were going to cut out the unity candle and make an anouncement that the receiving line needs to move fast b/c of time reasons. Is there anything else we can do to shorten it. we aren't having a mass either.
also do we have to pick readers? and what exactly do we need to pick for the ceremony as far as music, readings and anything else Im forgetting??
any help is appreciated.

---

Your Church should have someone there to help you out with this. If you're only doing the ceremony, it should last no more than 30 minutes or so. Ask someone to each do a reading (first reading is usually from the old testament and the second reading is from the new testament). Talk with the music coordinator at your Church about music selection. To also shorten your time, have the priest do the prayer of the faithful and maybe do your receiving line at the reception. You'll be more relaxed if you're at your hall while this is going on rather than rushing your guests.

Re: catholic church wedding

Skip the receiving line. I wish I did! That will save a lot of time.

Re: catholic church wedding

are you doing pre-cana? i got all of the instructions as far as readings, songs, etc at the end of our pre-cana session. maybe your Church will do the same. if not, call the rectory and ask to speak to the wedding director and he/she should be able to give you the details (because you'll need it for the programs as well).

Re: catholic church wedding

---

Posted by alnem

are you doing pre-cana? i got all of the instructions as far as readings, songs, etc at the end of our pre-cana session. maybe your Church will do the same. if not, call the rectory and ask to speak to the wedding director and he/she should be able to give you the details (because you'll need it for the programs as well).

---

yes, my church gives all this info at the last pre-cana session as well. i am doing a ceremony only also, and was told that with a receiving line the whole thing should only be 40-45 min. but you will probably want to take some pics at the church also, so you may want to skip the receiving line. you can always do it at the reception.

Re: catholic church wedding

My friend had the same time frame and also had just a ceremony and a receiving line. The ceremony was done in 30 minutes and she did have a receiving line (but, then the photographer got her moving pretty quickly).

The bride and groom didn't make the cocktail hour but, the rest of the BP did.

Re: catholic church wedding

My cousin and his wife had a smaller time frame....but the church abd the reception were close to each other....My cousin had the priest make an announcement that there would be no recieving line because of time constraints and that the bride and groom would greet everyone at the reception

Re: catholic church wedding

skip the whole mass....that will save plenty of time!

Re: catholic church wedding

Skip the receiving line.

Re: catholic church wedding

yes we did pre cana already but we missed the last sessin b/c fh hurst his knee really bad. But we are not doing programs. everyone knows each other and I just think they are a waste for us to do.

Re: catholic church wedding

It all depends what you want to pick - if you want certain readings or music at the wedding. (BTW - I'm getting married at St. Brigid's too:) ) You can ask the priest and they should go over this stuff at pre cana. I'll look around and see if I have the phone number of one of the coordinators there.