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Dedicated June 2018

Communion during ceremony?

Dbs623, on January 2, 2018 at 3:38 PM Posted in Wedding Ceremony 0 25
Thoughts on this or is anyone else planning to do so as well? My fiancé and I would like to offer communion to our guests at our ceremony

25 Comments

Latest activity by O, on January 3, 2018 at 12:58 PM
  • Kelsey Brielle
    Super June 2022
    Kelsey Brielle ·
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    I have never heard of this, my concern would be how it would come across to guest who are of different religious beliefs than you and FH, or those who do not have one at all.

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  • OG Kathryn
    Champion May 2016
    OG Kathryn ·
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    Ive been to funerals where we were told we didnt have to if we didnt practice the faith.

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  • Forestwed
    Master May 2018
    Forestwed ·
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    I would be considerate of the other guests’ religion and also a full mass with a wedding is too long
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  • Spaghetti
    VIP November 2018
    Spaghetti ·
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    A Catholic ceremony is often done within mass and lasts less than an hour. It's a bit offensive to say that about a religion.

    @OP - If you are Catholic the priest usually will announce that anyone not within the faith or ready to take the Eucharist can cross their arms for a blessing. Otherwise people will stay seated and choose not to participate. It's pretty common from my experience.

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  • starsinwaves
    VIP November 2018
    starsinwaves ·
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    My cousins have had full masses and have done this. It made me feel incredibly awkward every time because my dad’s whole side (the people I’m sitting with) are Catholic and get up for it and I just stand there by myself in everyone’s way.
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  • D
    Dedicated June 2018
    Dbs623 ·
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    Also, it might be helpful to add: my guest list is primarily family with a few friends. About 100 people, all of which share my same religious beliefs
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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    Are you having a church ceremony? I'd find this very odd to do outside of a church, but would expect it, albeit decline, if the wedding is in a church.

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  • Forestwed
    Master May 2018
    Forestwed ·
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    Spaghetti, I’ve been to many, many catholic weddings and they have never been less than an hour.
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  • Spaghetti
    VIP November 2018
    Spaghetti ·
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    A normal weekend mass with hundreds of people takes an hour but I can't argue your experience. I do think it's a bit contradicting to say that OP should do the ceremony and not a mass to honor other people's religion. If a full mass is the way that OP and their SO would prefer to be married due to religious reasons - then they have that right. It is not poor hosting by any means, IMO.

    ETA: If you truly have an issue due to your own beliefs and that issue is larger than your interest for the couple's wedding then decline like @MFB said. You have that right as a guest.

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  • WWMP
    Devoted October 2015
    WWMP ·
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    We did. Our Mass was about 45 mins long with Communion. My family is Catholic as well as my wife's so I would say 95% of the attendees were Catholic as well so it was a not a tough decision.

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  • Katie
    Devoted November 2017
    Katie ·
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    You may need to discuss this with your officiant, especially if you're getting married in a church. They might have rules/policies on whether/how communion can be served. If it's in a Catholic church, non-Catholics aren't permitted to take communion (they can choose to remain seated or they cross their arms across their chests to indicate they cannot receive communion but would like a blessing) but it will be offered as part of mass.

    If the above doesn't apply to you, consider whether you want it to be offered/available to people who aren't Christians. I didn't want to give it to all my guests, as at least half weren't believers and I don't believe they should partake in communion because of that. I wanted to take communion with DH, so our officiant gave us options on what we could do (take it during the ceremony, which DH wasn't comfortable with; take it with our wedding party, which officiant decided against when I told him my MOH is Catholic (and therefore can't take it outside of mass/Catholic environment); or take it after our ceremony when we sign our license. I chose to do this because I felt it worked the best for us.

    If you still choose to serve it to your guests, depending on your tastes/beliefs, you can get combo cups of juice and wafers from amazon. They're pretty easy to find and can be placed on the guests' chairs or below the chairs. Two wedding we've been to included that. our only complaint was that the wafer was really hard to get to because of the plastic on top of it.

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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    "I don't believe they should partake in communion because of that"

    They wouldn't want to partake because of that. And people aren't "non-believers" just because they believe something other than what you believe.

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  • OGJessieJV
    Master July 1867
    OGJessieJV ·
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    People who aren’t Catholic normally don’t go up during communion. It’s not a big deal. I’ve been to several Catholic weddings with communion where many people didn’t go up. If you’re not Catholic, you don’t go up. No biggie.
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  • WED18
    July 1993
    WED18 ·
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    Whaaat???? How on earth is having a full catholic mass for a catholic couple not being considerate of other guests' religion? I've attended many weddings in churches that are not of my faith and didn't find them to be inconsiderate. There are also other religions that have hour long ceremonies, or double that in the case of an Indian wedding. Boy, for all the "it's your day, do it your way" mantra that I see here on WW, I'm appalled and insulted that a couple choosing to marry in THEIR church would be considered anything but a beautiful ceremony.

    OP - by all means if you would like to offer communion during your ceremony, whether it be a catholic mass or another christian religion, go for it!

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  • K
    Just Said Yes January 2018
    Katie ·
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    My FH and I are doing communion Just with ourselves and the pastor which happens to be my dad 🤗
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  • Katie
    Devoted November 2017
    Katie ·
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    MFB, I wasn't trying to be offensive.

    Some people don't really care about taking communion. So it's not like I'm trying to be exclusive, but I realize that the beliefs someone who takes communion has don't usually match up to those of someone who doesn't. We're saying the same thing, in different ways.

    And non-Christians are frequently referred to as non-believers, because they don't believe what we do. It's not an offensive term at all.

    It kind of sounds like you responded to my comment just to be antagonistic, which I don't get. I realize that many people don't share my beliefs, and that's fine. But this thread is discussing communion (and therefore invites discussion about some beliefs which may impact it), so I'm discussing the nuances of offering it. That's all.

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  • D
    Dedicated June 2018
    Dbs623 ·
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    Thank you for your responses, all. Yes, it would be a Christian communion and as far as our officiant (my pastor), simply stay seated if you do not wish to participate. at My church, the table is at the front and those that wish to partake go up and do so
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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    No, I responded because your comment was off-putting.

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  • Kelsey Brielle
    Super June 2022
    Kelsey Brielle ·
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    In that case, OP you are fine. Go for it.

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  • Stephanie
    Super March 2018
    Stephanie ·
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    Go for it, OP! I considered this too, but because the logistics may be a little much, I think FH and I will just have communion on our own during the unity candle portion of the ceremony.
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