Wedding Mass Booklet

A wedding mass booklet (known in the US as the 'wedding program') serves the following purposes:

• It gives people an idea of how the mass will flow, especially those who are unfamiliar with Catholic liturgy
• It enables active participation of the people in the mass, by providing them with the responses and words for the songs

The wedding mass program can have different forms. It can be as simple as a single sheet with the hymns and general outline, or a booklet with several pages.

While you can get a mass booklet prepared by any printer or supplier of wedding material, like a wedding card printer, the fact is that you can prepare and print a wedding mass booklet yourself at a fraction of the cost. A simple 8-page wedding booklet prepared by a wedding supplier can cost ₹30 per copy onwards, but if you are handy with Microsoft Word, you can easily prepare a comparable one yourself, and if you can find a low-cost supplier for printing and photocopying, it could cost you ₹3 per copy.

You can decide which of the following to include in the booklet. One consideration is how much space you have available based on your planned program size.

• Hymns: It is especially important to include the hymns to be sung during the mass in the booklet if the hymns have been taken from various sources, and would not be found in the hymnbooks used in the church that will be the venue. If all the hymns are available in hymnbooks that can be provided, then you may decide not to include the hymns in the mass booklet, and just specify hymn numbers. In any case, it is highly recommended that the congregation have access to the words of the hymns, which will enable them to participate in singing.
• Readings: Assuming that the lectors (the people proclaiming the readings) are good, and the audio system / acoustics of the church are good, it is not really necessary to include the text of the readings. The chapter and verse numbers would suffice for remembrance purposes. The Indian bishops recommend that people should be encouraged to listen to the readings rather than read them as this is the appropriate response of the community to the proclamation. A good reason to include the text could be if your guests come from different linguistic backgrounds. In such a case, you could even think of including the text of the readings in another language.
• The words for prayers and responses, and indications for movements, such as when to kneel or stand. This is more important if there are a significant number of guests who would be unfamiliar with the language or with the mass and ceremony in general.
• You may provide notes on traditions, customs and rituals featured in the ceremony. Again, this would be helpful for guests from a different culture or religion.
• It is common to include names of the wedding entourage, family members and other participants of the ceremony in the mass booklet.
• Many couples include a small note of thanks at the end of the program.

Pointers for making a booklet yourself

A common and easy-to-make format for wedding booklets is an A5 size booklet made by printing and then folding A4 sheets in half.

If you're using Microsoft Word, then you can accomplish the A4 to A5 conversion automatically by selecting the option Page layout -> Multiple pages -> Book fold. When you select this option, Word changes the page size to A5 (half of A4) and prints the pages in the order so that after stapling in the middle, the pages are in the correct order for the booklet. More details on printing booklets at howtogeek.com.

With this booklet layout, you must keep in mind that you have to have a multiple of 4 pages, which may entail one, two, or three blank pages.

While you could print the booklet entirely in black on plain white A4 sheets, one can make the booklet a little fancier by using thicker paper (such as card paper) for the cover and coloured paper or coloured printing.

Further, it is also possible to punch holes along the folded edge and use ribbon or twine to tie the pages instead of, or in addition to stapling.

A word of advice: Make sure you get as much proofreading as possible done on your mass booklet before the final printing. It's unbelievable how many errors can lurk unnoticed in these booklets, only to become apparent after scores or hundreds of copies have been printed. 😓

Texts

• For the normal parts of the mass, the texts of the current (2011) English translation of the mass are available at Catholic Bridge.
• For the the texts specific to the nuptial mass, such as the vows, consent and nuptial blessing, there are minor variations around the world, and it's best to confirm with your priest or the diocese, which sources to use for these texts.
• For the United States, the site catholicweddinghelp.com has the structure of the mass, the texts of the rite of marriage, and the nuptial blessing, and other texts.
• For the United Kingdom, the Liturgy Office has resources for wedding liturgies, including texts for the rite of marriage, and the nuptial blessing.
• The texts of the Konkani mass in Goa may be taken from the archdiocese's hymnbook, the Gaionacho Jhelo.
• The text for the wedding vows in Konkani are available with the Diocesan Family Service Centre.

Copyright

• The lyrics and music of hymns are copyright of the composers or music publishing companies. Check the policy for permission for reprinting on the respective websites.
• The English translation of the liturgical texts are copyright of ICEL. They allow for free reprinting of the texts for weddings, subject to certain conditions, which include that a copyright notice must be printed.

Credits
Special thanks to Austine Crasta for his inputs for this post.

Useful links

• How to make a personal wedding ceremony booklet - WikiHow
• Creating a Catholic wedding program - Catholic Wedding Help

Updated 21 May '17

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