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

Catholic Wedding Ceremony - part 1

Welll, this is not exactly about flowers, but this post is still related to the weddings particularly Catholic wedding ceremony in Indonesia, so I guess it’s still fine :D . If you’re planning a Catholic wedding we hope this post will give you insight on the ritual. Whaat? You’re not a Catholic? Don’t worry we plan to post wedding ceremonies from other religions soon! So lets start, shall we?

1.      Bride and Groom Blessing / Pemberkatan Mempelai

Like any other Catholic rites, a catholic wedding will began with a blessing. In Indonesia this blessing has two variations, whether the couple being blessed before entering the church or at the main altar. The choir will sing the entrance song at this point and it’s usually the most memorable song for the guests, so pick the song carefully!!

Variation 1: This is the old tradition, where the bride and groom are blessed by the pastor at the church’s entrance.

They then enter the church hand in hand together behind the pastor.

Variation 2: Now this is the new trend in Indonesia, brought in by all those Hollywood movies, where the groom waited in front of the main altar then the bride enters the church with her father.

After the groom receives the bride then the pastor bless them with holy water.

2.      Liturgy of the Word / Liturgi Sabda

The mass then proceed with liturgy of the word session, until the pastor gives light speech. This speech usually contains a bit of interaction with the couple, like a sort of question and answer game to test their level  of love and understanding of each other

3.    The ceremony  of sacramental marriage / Upacara sakramen pernikahan

We now enter the most important session i.e. the Pastor will ask the couple one more time about their willingness to get married, then the wedding vows exchanged, afterward the pastor ask all the guests to pray together for the new family.

Thus the wedding rings will be blessed, and then the couple exchanged rings. Afterward the bride will be unveiled and the groom may kiss the bride. Next the tray containing a Bible, a Holy cross and a Rosario will be blessed too, then we proceed to session 4.

(to be continued in part 2)