Catholic Weddings

respect the church- no electronics?

Hey Brides! My wedding is just around the corner like most of you- October 11... we're having a catholic wedding, however, a majority of our guests are not religious and they are not aware of the proper "respect" for being in a church. I was planning on having little cards on the pews so people are more apt to pick them up and read them that say the following: Welcome to the wedding, but also Mass. While a majority of the guests are not religious, the Bride and Groom have been brought up as practicing Catholics. Mass is a Holy and Sacred Act; it is during the Mass when all the graces and merits of our Lord’s sacrifice are applied to our souls in a sacramental fashion. With this being said, we ask you to please show your respect to the Lord, the priest, and most importantly, to the Bride and Groom by turning all of your electronic devices off or on to vibrate (yes, this also includes phones and cameras). The Bride and Groom thank you and hope you enjoy the ceremony! Does that sound over pushy or too wordy or just enough to inform the guests that it's also a mass in church ? Thanks everyone! I hope everyone's planning is going smoothly!!

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Answers

  • Also, @leahbt333 the Catholic board is great but doesn't get as much traffic as the regular Ceremony board.  Maybe cross post there for some other opinions!
  • Part of doing this little note was also for people to not take pictures as I only want our photographer to take pictures- so I was trying to say it in a way that sounds not only is it respectful because you're in a church, but please don't take pictures and just enjoy the ceremony w/o looking at your phone for 1 hour. I've seen several wedding pictures of my friends where people are in the aisle, as the bride is walking down, everyone just has their phone out rather than their direct eyes on the bride snapping the picture. I honestly don't care about other people's photos because I know the photographer and videographer will be taking the shots. Both have been informed as far as the ceremony is concerned on where to not go during the ceremony and will not be having flash during the ceremony- so they will also be respecting the church. 

    I cross-posted, thank you for the advice though :) 
  • It's fine to announce or put in the program to silence cell phones and ask for no pictures to be taken. Nothing more needs to be said or explained. 

     I play music for weddings and I always do a short speal before beginning including cell phones. Some parishes have policies too. My old pastor would begin weddings by asking people to focus on prayer and let the pro photographer take care of picture taking. I've seen hideous behavior by people standing up and taking pics in the middle of the aisle and blocking view. 

    Do not say anything about "while the majority of guests are not religious". 


  • You can certainly request an unplugged ceremony but I'd just make the request to have devices off. Your wording comes off as sanctimonious and is hypocritical if you have a professional photographer taking photos during the ceremony at your request.
  • I'm also in the "let the priest or organist handle this announcement"...  And ask them to do so if it's THAT big of an issue...  That way it's not on you because like the others I find that statement a tad on the rude side once it's expanded from "please turn your cell off" - they can also handle the potential issues surrounding communion too - which I'd be more apt to address in your program/note than a phone/camera issue because of the solemnity of the mass...

    Also, next thing - you may not want people taking pictures, but I have a friend who just got married, got the images back from the photographer to find - out of the entire day she had 12 pictures worth even bothering to print.  She had NONE of her and her groom that had them looking great/at the camera.  It's the friends/family who came to her aid because they had pictures that she found herself liking so much better than the ones she paid thousands of dollars to get (she discovered after the fact that the photographer wasn't nearly as good as her portfolio led her to believe and multiple brides going to court over breach of contract issues).

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