Church of the Nativity

For us, it was always clear from the beginning that we wanted to go full hog Catholic Mass Wedding Ceremony. God and the Church have been a big part of our lives and so there was no question as to how we wanted our wedding.

However…

Most of our family and a good majority of our friends were non-Catholic, non-religious, etc. We agreed right away that people needed to feel welcomed and know what to expect out of a religious ceremony that is not a regular part of their lives. A couple things were game changers to help our guests feel comfortable.

Programs

We spent a little extra time and money to have beautiful programs that detailed everything. Wedding party, family members, readings, songs and song numbers, when to sit and stand, responses, notes about what to do at communion, everything.

Many came to us afterward and commented how particularly beautiful the ceremony overall was.

Ushers and Greeters

We had two ushers in suits, well informed ahead of time to walk family and friends to their seats. The church itself is large, so they made sure to bring everyone up close so as to be able to see everything during the ceremony. They took this mission seriously and we were so grateful for our ushers! It removed the awkwardness of where to sit and helped our guests feel comfortable in an unfamiliar environment.

We asked two of our readers to help greet guests and pass out programs. They killed it! Upon opening the front door, the guests were welcomed by a well-attired greeter, offered a program of what is going to happen, and then guided to their seat. The guests knew who to ask for restrooms, they knew they were going to get taken care of if they had questions, they knew they were an honored invitee and that we were prepared for them.

All in all I know these sound like little details, but I cherish the role these people played in creating a welcoming and relaxed environment for our guests to participate in our religious ceremony.

Nice Details About Nativity

1) Fr. Mike was amazing! From the marriage prep program to his homily, he has got a really beautiful wedding ministry going. We loved getting married there.

2) They have an option to record and live stream the whole ceremony for $100. That was much better than $1800 for a videographer.

3) There is a nice big room in the back for little kids to run around in and a TV with the wedding being shown. Parents can take care of riled kids and still participate in the ceremony. Multiple parents mentioned how appreciative they were of this detail.

4) Their church flower decorator will match the gigantic church bouquets to your wedding flowers for $200. You’re welcome to get your own florist and do it that way, but we thought this was much simpler and cheaper. The only thing is that they keep the bouquets to use for Sunday Mass. We actually appreciated this because we didn’t have to do any coordination of setting up and removal.

All photography by Thomas J McNamara

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