I’ve realized that having a full Catholic mass for our wedding might leave a few of our guests confused about what to do and when to do it. If you’ve ever been to a Catholic mass (or probably any church), there is a lot of sitting, standing, kneeling, responding, etc. I didn’t want people to feel lost! I found a woman online who put together a really helpful program that she offered for download and then I just went through and edited it for our purposes (I can’t find the original site, I’m happy to send my program via email to anyone who needs it).
We decided to print the programs ourselves and will just do a piece of cardstock for the cover (which we bought for our invitations) and then a plain piece of paper on the inside. We’ll probably attach it all with thin black ribbon. I’m pretty happy with the way they came out and hope they will make our non-Catholic guests more at ease.
The front says: The nuptial mass celebrating the union of me and Nick in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Saturday the twenty seventh day of October Two Thousand and Twelve and then our church name and location.
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The first page lists the wedding party, parents, ushers, and celebrants as well as their relation to each of us.
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The inside pages outline the ceremony order. In parentheses it says when to sit/stand and also says how to respond if necessary (for the readings, gospel, prayers of the faithful, etc.).
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The second to last page is a general thank you, it reads:
We would like to express our sincerest thanks to all of you for helping us make this day a joyous celebration, especially our parents who gave us life; our families who shared our life; our relatives and friends who helped us to reach this special day. We are honored you can share these sacred and joyous moments with us today. May God bless each one of you. Erin & Nick
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On the very back of the program we just put a general note with some gentle reminders for our guests: Thank you for coming to our wedding celebration. It means a great deal to us that you are witnesses to our marriage vows. Father Stanislao will signal when to sit and stand and this program will serve as a guide to the order of the service. We encourage you to listen, pray, and sing. All music can found in the Breaking Bread hymnal, located in the pews. In order to respect the dignity of the ceremony, we ask that there is no flash photography during the service. Additionally, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices.
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I pieced together the wording for those pages from resources online and using my own words. I felt that they covered everything we would want to share without being too wordy.
What do you think of our programs? Do you think the guests will appreciate them? Would you change anything?
I went to my first Catholic wedding last August. Luckily I went to the rehearsal so I wasn’t completely lost. So many things happened that I think would confuse Protestants or those that are non religious. A program is key at a Catholic ceremony!
This is such a wonderful idea! Would you please be able to email me a copy of your program? My email address is [email protected] I would really appreciate it!
Great idea….I would appreciate it if you would please email me a copy of your program. Thank you!
Like your finished program. Helpful and easy to read. Please send me your file. Thanks
This is so perfect and helpful! We are getting married on June 29th (full mass..) and are worried about our non-Catholic friends. If you could email me this it would really help. I have been struggling with what to do and it’s starting to really get to me.
Thank you for posting and sharing!!