Roman Catholic Church wedding ceremony
There are two kinds of wedding service for the Roman Catholic Church, the first being the Marriage Celebrated During Mass and the latter Marriage Celebrated Outside Mass. Both wedding ceremony have similarities on the first part, Entrance Rite, Liturgy of the Word, and Rite of Marriage.

A marriage between a catholic and a non-catholic or someone who is not baptized yet is considered a mixed-marriage, and such marriages need to be consulted and be permitted by the catholic parish priest. And if a mixed-marriage couple wanted a Celebrated During Mass which is for normal catholic marriages, then they have to be approved before going ahead. And to avoid any disappointments on getting your preferred wedding date and clashes of other wedding couples, at least 6 months in advance is advisable to allow the catholic parish priest in approving of the marriage.

Part of the process of being approved is to ensure the catholic party of the wedding couple will not back slide from the faith and also to ensure that the children will be baptized and brought up as catholics. After that the priest needs to sign a statement stating that the non-catholic party will not in anyway affect the decision and promise that the catholic party has made. Normally for mixed-marriages, the wedding couples will undergo a longer ‘preparation’ by the church as this will ensure that the wedding couple knows what they are doing before entering into marriage.

Roman catholic churches are strictly non-negotiable with regards to divorced marriages. But they may review from case to case, for example if the party has nullify the previous marriage and being granted by the catholic church.

As with other church weddings, the wedding couple will have to choose the music, songs and hymns well in advance to be printed on the Order of Service sheet. They will also choose a passage of scripture from the bible to be read by themselves or by any of their close family member. The scriptures chosen would preferably be something that has affected their lives in a good way, so that it will bring more meaning to their wedding ceremony. In order to share this blessed scripture with your wedding guests in printed form on the Order of Service sheet, it has to be decided well in advance.

There are similarities with the church of England in the wedding procession. (See Wedding Ceremony Procession Chart 1, click here) The bride will made and entrance with her father or close relative, she will be led to the altar with the groom on her right. The chief bridesmaid and the bridesmaids will be following behind the pair with the chief bridesmaid on the bride’s side. When the bride reach the altar, the chief bridesmaid will stand on the bride’s left side slightly behind with the main purpose of carrying her wedding bouquet. (See Wedding Ceremony Procession Chart 2, click here) The bride and groom may also choose to enter the church together.