Women in the wedding party

penguingal06

Just a random question, did anyone have or is anyone planning on having groomsmaids at their Catholic ceremony? Due to some events recently, FI wants to ask a couple of his female friends to stand up for him as groomsmen.

 I have seen a lot of this in wedding posts and pictures and stuff, but never specifically at a Catholic ceremony. Is this allowed?

bel138

I had a bridesman. I don't believe there is any specific church law that prohibits this.

Calypso1977

the church does not care who your attendants are, provided there are two catholics (some say just one is ok) that can sign as witnesses to the marriage.

[Deleted User]

It doesn't matter who stands on your FI's side. As far as them being Catholic, none of our WP is Catholic and our priest doesn't seem to care, which is surprising bc he is so strict otherwise.

bellashauntee

I am having a bridesman. I am sure that a groomswoman would be fine.

mlhw NH

We are having a JR. Groomswoman.  I didn't ask because I didn't think it would matter.   Maybe I should have.  Worst comes worst I  will just move her to the bride side.

Jay+Marissa

the church does not care who your attendants are, provided there are two catholics (some say just one is ok) that can sign as witnesses to the marriage.

Does this even matter? I heard someone say recently we don't need witnesses, but I don't know how credible they are (or who it was!)

Riss91

Jay+Marissa - I think some priests request that at least one be Catholic, but some never mention it at all. Our priest didn't ask us if our witnesses were Catholic (they were). We signed everything the night before at the rehearsal.

JMU_Bride09

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_women-wedding-party?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:e9d3c191-ada3-4a73-9704-db1fb4cf26e4Post:d71ae633-8047-4bc3-8fd1-06058bf398ec">Re: Women in the wedding party</a>:
[QUOTE]the church does not care who your attendants are, provided there are two catholics (some say just one is ok) that can sign as witnesses to the marriage.
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]

Our priest said that this was actually not a requirement for our parish.  It probably varies from parish to parish or diocese to diocese

Calypso1977

we had to have 2 witnesses sign the church ledger... but even then, there were plenty of catholics in attendance who could have signed if our MOH and BM were not catholic, which they were.  while i have no idea of our two attendants were required to be catholic, were definitely asked during the initial paperwork completion if they were catholic.  since we said yes to both, i have no idea what woudl have transpired had we said no.