Catholic vs Lutheran

Well for a Catholic, very rarely is permission granted to get married outside, so most likely your marriage will not be recognized by the church . You probably already knew that though. In our case, my FH is Baptist and I am Catholic. Since FH isn't a regular church goer, we have done the pre Cana classes and are obtaining the necessary permissions to be married in a Catholic church without a full mass. I don't really know anything about the Lutheran religion but if you want to have a religious ceremony I would contact a local Lutheran church.

I'm not Catholic, but I thought they don't perform the Catholic service outdoors? You may have to do a Lutheran service. Talk to your church leaders. They will guide you.

FH is Lutheran. Since Lutheranism was basically founded on a bunch of things that Martin Luther didn't like about Catholicism, I would say there are some differences in the two. Also a Lutheran wedding ceremony isn't as long as a catholic one and there are less rules about where you can get married. If you are getting married outside though it sounds like you have to go with a Lutheran service because I know the Catholic Church usually doesn't marry outside of the church.

I'm Catholic and FH is Christian. In order for the Catholic church to recognize the marriage (for me) we had to fill out paperwork that got sent to the Archdiocese. FH didn't have to convert. But we are getting married at the church I am member of.

Thank you everyone, sounds like probably have to go lutheran or nondenominational. I knew about the catholic not marrying outside a church stuff, not concerned with that too much.

When I was engaged to my ex (never married him, thank goodness), his mom asked if we were going to have a Catholic service or Lutheran service (I grew up Catholic, he grew up Lutheran). In her words "It really doesn't matter to me, they're basically the same religion...Catholicism just has a little transubstantiation thrown in."

So imagine her surprise when I said "Neither. We're going to a judge." Poor lady almost had a heart attack.

Sorry, probably a stupid derailment...just figured I"d share my story of my Lutheran ex-almost-MIL saying Catholicism and Lutheranism are the same.

We had a somewhat similar situation. His entire family is Catholic, alot of my extended family is Mormon & we both just consider ourselves Christian. We decided it was best to have it somewhere other than a church so no one had issues with attending.

My mom and dad are catholic and Lutheran, and my dad didn't have to convert. However he did have to promise the priest (signing papers may have been involved?) that they would raise their future children catholic. They got married in a catholic church

First, pet peeve: to the PP who said you're Catholic and your FH is Christian: you're both Christian. Catholics = Christians. Non-Catholics = Protestants. Protestants = Christians.

OP, if you want to continue to attend/receive the sacraments in the Catholic church, think hard about having the outdoor ceremony. If you do not receive the proper dispensation (and "I want to get married outside" is not usually a good enough reason for the Bishop to grant one), you will not be able to continue to participate in the life the church (receiving the sacraments, having your children baptized). There are clear consequences for a Catholic marrying outside the church. You don't have to convert to marry a non-Catholic (and he doesn't have to convert to marry you), but the church has consequences for not following established procedures.

That being said, while PP is correct about Catholicism and Lutheranism being theologically different, in worship style and practice they are very similar. My sister's (Lutheran) wedding ceremony was an hour and twenty minutes long; our (Catholic) one will likely be shorter than that. But both have certain rituals and traditions that are quite similar. (Note: i don't know if your FH is Missouri Synod Lutheran, or Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, so that could change things--I'm much more familiar with ELCA than I am with Missouri Synod, since that's what my sister and BIL are.)

The key difference between Catholic and Protestant weddings is that in the Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament, just like baptism, confirmation, reconciliation, celebration of the Eucharist, anointing of the sick, and Holy Orders. Protestants only generally recognize two sacraments, baptism and Eucharist (which they usually refer to as "Holy Communion" or "Lord's Supper"). So, because marriage is a sacrament in the Catholic Church, there are a lot of requirements surrounding the preparation for it.

Sorry, long-winded history professor answer.

FH and I are getting married in a Lutheran church. I'm a Lutheran and he's not sure what he is, raised atheist. I'm sure it varies pastor to pastor but our pastor will marry non-Lutherans and even non-christians.

Maybe start with thinking beyond the wedding and a little further into the future. Do you plan on having a family? How do you plan to raise the kids? This is something the two of you will have to decide on. My FH and I are also different religions, I'm catholic and he was raised Presbyterian. So together we've been talking about both of us converting to Lutheran. For us, I feel like in a year from now we'll be saying where are we going to baptize our kids. It would be nice to find a church we can call home