Creating A Wedding Mass Booklet: A Step-By-Step Guide

A wedding mass booklet is a great way to help your guests navigate your ceremony, especially if it's a religious one with lots of standing, sitting, kneeling, and responding. It can also be a nice keepsake. You can make your own or buy a template online. If you're making your own, you'll need to be able to design it and have access to a good printer, paper, and stapler. You can include things like the bridal party, music, headings, prayers, and stages of the ceremony. You can also add inspirational quotes, explanations of traditions, and information about the happy couple.

Outline the ceremony

A wedding mass booklet is a great way to help your guests navigate your ceremony, especially if they are not familiar with the rituals. It can also be a nice keepsake for your guests. Here is a suggested outline for the ceremony:

The Procession

The first step is to guide your guests to their seats. Ushers should start escorting guests 30 to 45 minutes before the ceremony begins. The procession itself can begin with the officiant, followed by the groom, best man/honor attendants, and groomsmen. Next, the bridesmaids enter, followed by the maid/matron of honour. The ring bearer and flower girl should enter before the bride, who is usually escorted by her father.

Opening Remarks

Once everyone is in place, the officiant offers an address to welcome the guests and establish the reason for the gathering. Depending on the style of your ceremony, this speech may be short or include prayers, readings, anecdotes, or declarations of intent.

The Exchange of Vows

This is the main event, where you exchange vows and/or rings. You may write your own vows or use traditional phrasing. The officiant may prompt you to exchange rings with a phrase such as, "With this ring, I thee wed."

Pronouncement of Marriage

After the exchange of vows and rings, the officiant will formally declare your union and ask you to seal it with a kiss.

Recessional

Following the kiss, the newlyweds walk or dance up the aisle, followed by the bridal party. The guests are then dismissed, usually by row.

Include the wedding party

Including the wedding party in your wedding mass booklet is a great way to give them a special mention and ensure your guests can identify who's who. Here are some ideas on how to do this:

Names and Roles

Include the names of the bridal party, along with their roles and relation to the bride and groom. This can be listed on a dedicated page in the booklet, or incorporated into the order of service, with names listed alongside the relevant sections. For example, you could list the maid or matron of honour, best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, and any readers or singers involved in the ceremony.

Bios and Fun Facts

Consider adding a short biography for each member of the wedding party. This could include fun facts, such as how you know them, a funny story, or something they are interested in. This adds a personal touch and can be a great way to break the ice at the wedding, especially for guests who may not know many people.

Photos

If you want to get creative, you could include photos of the wedding party in the booklet. This could be a fun way to showcase their personalities and give guests a visual guide to who's who. You could even include baby photos or a mix of old and new pictures to tell a story.

Thank You Notes

Use the booklet as an opportunity to thank the wedding party for their involvement and support. This could be a general thank you message on the same page as their names and roles, or you could include more personalised messages within their bios. Either way, it's a lovely way to show your appreciation and create a special keepsake for those involved.

Contact Information

For the bridal party, you could include their contact information, such as an email address or phone number. This can be useful for guests who may want to reach out with congratulations or questions about the wedding. It also centralises the contact details for the wedding party, making it easier for them to stay connected and coordinate any wedding-related tasks.

Explain the mechanics of Mass

The mechanics of Mass are a fundamental part of classical mechanics, and they are based on Isaac Newton's laws of motion, which he first introduced in his 1687 publication, "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" (commonly known as the Principia).

Mass is a measure of the tendency of a body to resist changes in its state of motion. In modern physics, mass has multiple definitions that are conceptually distinct but physically equivalent. Mass can be defined as a measure of a body's inertia, or its resistance to acceleration when a force is applied. This is known as inertial mass. The object's mass also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies, which is known as gravitational mass.

The Nuptial Mass

The nuptial mass is a Catholic wedding ceremony that includes the celebration of the Mass. This type of wedding ceremony involves a lot of sitting, standing, kneeling, and responding, which can be confusing for guests who are not familiar with the rituals. Providing a clear outline of the events is important to help your guests feel more comfortable and able to participate in the celebration.

The Wedding Liturgy

Work with your parish to plan the wedding liturgy, which will include the Order of Mass. The Order of Mass typically includes the following:

• Liturgy of the Word: Readings, Responsorial Psalm, Gospel, and Homily
• Liturgy of the Eucharist: Preparation of the Gifts, Eucharistic Prayer, Lord's Prayer, Sign of Peace, and Communion
• Concluding Rite: Blessing and Dismissal

The Wedding Program

The wedding program can be designed to guide your guests through the Mass and help them understand the rituals and traditions. It can include:

• A cover page with the names of the bride and groom, the date of the wedding, and the church name and location.
• A list of the wedding party, including the celebrant, parents, wedding party, and ushers.
• A note for guests explaining the happenings during the ceremony, such as when to sit, stand, or kneel, and any instructions regarding responses or rituals.
• The Order of Mass, which can include the specific readings, songs, and prayers that will be used.
• Additional information such as words of welcome, a request to refrain from flash photography, and directions to the reception.

Provide context for readings

The readings at a Catholic wedding liturgy are a proclamation of God's Word and the Church's faith about marriage. They are limited to readings from the scriptures (the Bible). There are nine options for the first reading from the Old Testament, thirteen options for the second reading from the New Testament, and ten choices for the Gospel. You can choose one reading from each of these categories.

The readings you select should reflect your hopes and dreams for your Christian marriage. You may find it helpful to reflect prayerfully on each reading and choose those that resonate with you. The readings will provide a thematic context for your wedding mass booklet.

For example, you may choose readings that focus on the themes of love, unity, and God's plan for marriage. This could include passages from Ecclesiastes, Corinthians, and the Gospel of Mark. The homily, or sermon, that follows the readings can further elaborate on these selected passages and their significance in the context of your wedding ceremony.

In addition to the scriptural readings, you may also want to include quotes from Scripture, poetry, or other literary excerpts in your wedding mass booklet. These can be used to fill any blank spaces in the booklet and provide additional context or themes that are meaningful to you as a couple.

Add inspirational quotes

A wedding mass booklet is a great way to guide your guests through the ceremony, especially those unfamiliar with the Catholic tradition. It can include details such as the order of the service, the music, and the prayers.

Quotes from Movies:

• "When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." - When Harry Met Sally
• "You are my greatest adventure." - Up
• "The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds." - The Notebook
• "I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once-in-a-lifetime love, and to always know in the deepest part of my soul that no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find our way back to each other." - The Vow

Quotes from TV Shows:

• "You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, and if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way." - Friends
• "After a while, you just want to be with the one that makes you laugh." - Sex And The City
• "Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it or else we’re lost and love is dead, and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do." - How I Met Your Mother
• "Love. No matter what happens, you gotta forget about all the other stuff. You gotta forget about logic and fear and doubt. You just gotta do everything you can to get to the one woman who's gonna make all this worth it." - The Office

Quotes from Books:

• "Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." - The History of Love
• "I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone." - The Lord of the Rings
• "I fell in love the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once." - The Fault in Our Stars
• "When you love someone, it seeps out of everything you do, it bleeds into everything you say, it becomes so ever-present, that eventually, it becomes ordinary to hear, no matter how extraordinary it is to feel." - One True Loves

These quotes can be added to your wedding mass booklet to inspire and touch your guests. They can be included on the cover page, inside pages, or even the back cover, along with other details of the ceremony.

Frequently asked questions