Everything You Need To Know About Getting Married During Lent

If you're Christian, you know Ash Wednesday starts the Lenten season. What you may not know is that if you get married during the Lenten season, there are some rules you have to follow. If you didn't know, well, this post will tell you everything you need to know.

If you're planning a church wedding, click that link for some more posts with info you might also not know.

If you're Catholic, you know that Lent is supposed to be a time of reflection and sacrifice.

For a couple that's getting married during the season, well, that means you're sacrificing a few things too. Like decorations and flowers in your church service.

Yup, there's no decorating the church during Lent. Didn't know that? That's why we wrote this everything you need to know about getting married during Lent post.

Everything You Need To Know About Getting Married During Lent

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A few years ago, I was out with my friend Nicole, chatting about weddings, and she brought up a friend who planned her wedding and church ceremony, all blind to the fact that her wedding was happening during Lent.

And that meant no decorations at the church.

No white tulle pew bows. No flowers adorning the alter. Nope, nada, zippo, zilch.

On one hand, it sure saves a lot of money.

Having a bow on every pew and a runner down the aisle can get expensive. And those flower arrangements up on the alter, ones that you're asked to donate to the church after, those aren't cheap.

So getting married during Lent eliminates those costs (and since it's a church mandated order, it stops you from looking cheap).

But, on the other hand, it might make your photos inside the church a little lackluster.

Pete and I planned a summer wedding, so this wasn't something we had to keep in mind, but it is just one small aspect of the wedding planning to think about that you maybe didn't consider when you got engaged.

So, think about this before you pick a date.

Ash Wednesday, Easter, and the Lenten season change annually. So, even if the date you love is in the clear this year, it might not be during the year you get married.

There are a few other things to keep in mind when getting married during Lent, so let's chat about those.

What days during Lent can you get married?

The church allows couples to get married during Lent, but there are exceptions.

You can't get married on Good Friday and Holy Saturday (the Friday and Saturday before Easter). 

There's no official decree that says couples can't get married on Easter Sunday, but it is regarded as one of the holiest days in the church. So there's a very high chance that a priest won't allow an Easter Sunday wedding.

Plus, you know, I'm not a fan of holiday weekend weddings anyway, so I would suggest you take the whole weekend off.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many churches will do Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings. Ours actually does soup and stations.

So, if you're hoping for a Friday wedding, you may have to host it earlier in the day than usual since the church will be booked later on.

Can your wedding have a full Catholic mass during Lent?

So, when you go to mass, you're actually celebrating mass. And during Lent, you're supposed to minimize the celebrating.

So some Catholic churches will not allow a full mass for your wedding if it's during Lent. You'll have to check with your specific church on this one.

Some churches will do a full Catholic mass but will skip the wine so you can have a "sober" mass.

Personally, I don't agree with this because the wine is meant to be the blood of Christ, but the law was passed in Rome in the 1990's. And since I'm not getting remarried, and not in Rome for sure, my disagreement is naught. 

Can you have singing at your wedding during Lent?

This is another one that is up to the discretion of your church.

Some churches say you can't have a full celebration during Lent. And celebrating includes singing. So the church may say that you can get married, but there cannot be any singing.

That's actually not just reserved to weddings.

Small aside, but if you're planning a funeral during Lent, the church will say the funeral must take place with minimal fanfare, which means no singing.

One of the most important things for me was to have Ave Maria sang at our wedding. It was my grandma's favorite church song, and my parents had it sang (sung?) during their wedding ceremony. So it was important for me to have it sang (sung?) during our wedding.

A lack of singing would definitely have had me change our wedding date.

If singing during the ceremony isn't that important to you, then you don't have to worry about this.

What meals can you serve if you're getting married during Lent?

Getting married during Lent means you may have to change your wedding menu.

For Christians, there's no meat on Friday. So if you're having a Saturday wedding, with a Friday rehearsal dinner, you want to make sure you're offering meatless options. And if you're having a Friday wedding, you want to keep this in mind for your wedding menu.

Maybe you don't observe Lent, so you're not worried about vegetarian dinners, but some of your guests will be. And you don't want them to feel uncomfortable -- or hungry.

You want to make sure that these meatless meals are also actually vegetarian. Soup sounds vegetarian, but many soups are made with beef or chicken broth, so Christians can't eat them.

Double and triple check with your caterer before choosing your menu.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What small detail did you not realize until after you were engaged? Let us know in the comments.