questions about Catholic wedding mass! Please help!

I'm not catholic but I have been to one catholic wedding. I remember a lot of singing and they were all congregational songs. There was no soloist.

Wow! no solosist? i would think they would have someone up there ( a soloist of some sort) introducing the songs and leading the congregation to hear how the songs are sung..

Well I guess every church is different? It was my first Catholic service so I really have nothing to compare it to. But we would just be sitting there and all of a sudden everyone is singing lol. Well everyone except me and FH b/c we didn't know the songs lol

You can either choose to have a full mass (read: eucharist) or you can just have the Rite of Marriage. You still get readings, songs, and the priest still does a homily, but you have your vows/exchanging of rings in place of the eucharist. Have you met with your officiate/church coordinator? Usually they will answer your questions based on how they can accommodate you in their church and what they've done before.

Hello! Relax Everything will be fine! Like Bright Eyes said, if you call the wedding coordinator at your church they will explain everything to you. It isn't that complicated at all but every parish is different so it is best to ask your church. I am having a full Mass wedding as well and will be hiring one of the soloists and the organist from the church. In my case, my parish does not allowed any outside musicians but they make exceptiontions, like for my sister's wedding she hired a violinist and had a family friend do all of the singing. I am a singer as well and have been in church choirs most of my life, so when my cousin got married a few years back I showed up on the day of the wedding and did all of the songs in her wedding Mass.. usually the songs that you will pick for your wedding are songs that you will find in the song books in the church pews. So it was easy because I had been singing these songs my whole life. Depending on the experience your fsil experience, ask her

Before you decide to have her do the whole Nuptial Mass. (if she is in the wedding party, having her limited to one song may be a better choice).

As for the Nuptial Mass being the same as a regular Mass you are correct in the sense that it has the same basic structure, but the homily is included as well, the priest will usually say something marriage related of course. Good Luck with your wedding and be sure to contact the wedding coordinator at your church to make sure that your fsil will be allowed to sing

This Catholic answers forum has been helpful for me and I just found this thread about wedding music in a full Mass wedding, hope it help!

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=429871&highlight=Wedding music

Thank you Deirdre! That was very helpful! I think i may have to get a soloist then!

Everything Deidre has said is correct. Call your church to get the specifics on musicians. In our case the church provided the musicians. For the ceremony we did not do a full mass, but it was basically still like a mass minus the communion. The way it works is that everything will be exactly like a normal mass that you go to on Sunday, up until the homily part. The priest will give a homily but it will be about marriage/the couple, etc. Then there will be the exchange of rings/vows and a prayer for the couple. I think if you were having a mass the communion would take place after that, then the conclusion of the ceremony.

Agree with PP - in our church we do have "soloists" but not really. Its the Cantor that you have at any regular mass. I am using the church choir and Cantor. There is a LOT of singing - so if your FSIL doesn't sing a lot normally, it would be a Bad Idea to have her do the entire service. And it is a service - whether the Eucharist is served is decided on a few points: Are BOTH you and your FH Catholic? How many people attending ar Catholic (since Catholics usually request that non-Catholics abstain from the Eucharist, some priests prefer to not have the Eucharist when the majority of the people attending are protestant).

Your welcome

Here's a link to a website I found to be very helpful.....that is, until I decided that I didn't want to get married in a Catholic church due to restrictions (even though I am Catholic).

http://catholicweddinghelp.com/index.htm

Interesting, i need this info too. having a catholic ceremony and just need to choose my music..

Crystal S. i hear ya, we do have a lot of hoops to jump through.

We are having a full Catholic Mass too. Expect the mass to go a little over an hour depending on the number of guest taking communion. Ofter there is a solosit during communion and or during optional parts (unity candle and Mary offering). The knot has a message board especially for Catholic brides. It may address other questions that arise (look under cultural boards). Also - for what its worth - I am having the church organist (paid vendor) do all the litergical music, plus my brother (as his gift to me) play the processional and recessional, plus a friend (her gift to me) play Ave Maria during the service. Check with the parish you are getting married at, but I di not think its that big a deal to have more than one musician/soloist as long as one of them knows how to do the litergical stuff. - Good Luck!

Have you talked to your priest?