“Somewhat” Catholic Wedding Ceremony

As time inches closer to Steve’s and my one year wedding anniversary (May 20, if you’re wondering), I’ve been recounting favorite memories and advice from our wedding. You can visit all of my #WeddingWednesday posts here. Today I’m sharing photos from our ceremony, something I haven’t talked a lot about yet. Steve and I opted to do a Catholic wedding ceremony because not only were we raised Catholic, our religion played a special role in the story of how we met. The dating app OKCupid filtered us for one another because we both selected “Somewhat Catholic” as our religious views. And while our ceremony as a whole was decidedly very Catholic, there were parts that you could consider just somewhat Catholic, like writing our own vows. Most priests won’t let couples do that, but we got one of the cool ones. 🙂

Keep scrolling for a photo timeline of our Catholic wedding ceremony with short notes from me about meaning behind the photos.

Steve’s cousin plays the bagpipes and I think it meant a lot to my mother-in-law that he play at our wedding. It ended up being the perfect outdoor entertainment while people enjoyed the beautiful spring day, and even distracted from my arrival when I had to slip unnoticed into a church backdoor.

A favorite memory from the wedding was what happened before I walked down the aisle. At that point, my nerves were at their highest and I was a little overwhelmed by how quickly the day had moved. While my father and I waited in the vestibule a side door opened. My best friend from high school entered the church, late just like he’s been to everything since I’ve known him. He gave me a sheepish wave and went into the church with his fiancée. Suddenly I felt a sense of calm knowing all of my favorite people were there that day to surround Steve and me with love.

There’s Father Jim Shaver – our super cool priest – and Steve and Steve’s brother/best man.

I was very happy we got to face the pews during the wedding. Honestly most of it was a blur, but the best part was watching everyone come up to communion and the excitement of knowing they’d all be at the reception next to help us celebrate.

What I like about a Catholic wedding ceremony is that there are many opportunities to involve friends and family. My brother and godmother read Bible passages, Steve’s cousins brought up the gifts, and my cousin and father-in-law gave Communion.

As mentioned, Steve and I wrote our own vows. I thought we hit them out of the park, but while our words were confident, Steve’s body language was not. Our friends say they could see Steve’s hand shaking from the back!

The end of the ceremony was admittedly really awkward. When the priest pronounced us “husband and wife” Steve and I stood in place waiting to hear the line “You may now kiss the bride.” Apparently a lot of churches don’t do that. Eventually, our priest gave us a little nod like, ok, get moving.

Steve and I originally said we didn’t want to do a big to-do after the ceremony. But when Mass ended, we stayed in the chapel, and everyone else stayed outside waiting for us. So we enlisted two friends to open the door for our big reveal. It actually was really nice to have that celebration in the end!

This is one of my favorite photos from the wedding. Not only are two of my best friends’ husbands in the background looking dapper in blue, this is a completely unplanned photo that truly encapsulates our love and excitement that day.

Want to see what came next? I shared one of my favorite DIY reception items here.