Friday, April 27, 2012

Catholic Wedding Ceremony - part 2

 4.      Signing the marriage license / Penandatanganan surat pernikahan
This session also has variations. Some couples postpone this signing session until all sessions are completed, or else.  

 

The pastor will ask the couple and witnesses forward to sign the wedding certificate (this is the church marriage license, not the government legal marriage license)

5.      Ask for parents blessing / Mohon doa restu orang tua
Now I think this is what distinguishes a Catholic ceremony in Indonesia and in other countries. After the couple is officially pronounced to be husband and wife, the pastor then ask the couple to go to their parents' seats and ask for blessing. This is a form of thanks to their parents for raising them and the parents will be asked to bless the couple in entering a new family life by giving them a 'cross sign' on their forehead.


See in the picture, the groom starts first by kneeling down in front of his parent in-law and ask for blessing, after he finished then it’s the bride's turn (this is usually the teary part :D) This custom in Indonesian traditional culture is called sungkeman and it shows how a part of Indonesian culture integrates with Catholic rites. A song will accompany this session, usually the one with lyrics depicting love to parents. Since this session usually a teary part, song in this session will be memorable to guests so slow ballad songs will touch their hearts deeper…

6.      Eucharistic Liturgy / Liturgi ekaristi
Ok, some weddings do not include this session since it will take more time. If this session is skipped, the pastor will officially end the wedding mass with blessing then proceed to number 7. Or else the mass  proceeded with eucharistic liturgy and communion then end with blessing

7.      Closing : Pray in front of Mary statue / Berdoa di depan Bunda Maria
The bride and groom carrying flower arrangements, a bridal candle and also accompanied by the pastor and altar boys go in front of Mary statue and pray asking for Her blessing upon their new family.

8.      Photo session / Sesi foto
After the mass, it’s photo session!! Then let's get on with the reception

Note: to see session number 1-4 see our previous post

That’s it!!!! Even for same Catholic wedding, in other countries there might be different variations too. Is the wedding ceremony different in yours? Let me know, ok?

From my own experience as a guest, the songs play important part too, especially the first entrance song and the one during session 5, I’ve seen some guests even got teary just by listening to the songs. So, if you have time, consult the songs with the choir group to achive maximum effect and make your wedding more memorable.

Church Decor by Team Margriet

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