[Magdalen] Wedding Advice

[Grace Cangialosi]

Jo,
Whether the service opens "officially on Advent 1 or not, I believe a bishop can give permission before that. I mean, they've already been doing it for several years in one way or another!

> On Sep 4, 2015, at 1:28 PM, Jo Craddock <jocraddock at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 09/04/2015 10:28 AM, Rick Mashburn wrote:
>> As y'all know, Alex and I were married in a civil ceremony in Santa Fe in
>> May. We're planning our church service for November. Currently, the liturgy
>> that is approved calls the service the "Celebration of a Lifelong Covenant"
>> but I'm hoping it can be the "Blessing of a Civil Marriage" by the time the
>> bulletins are printed. We've requested permission from the Bishop to call
>> it that
> I'll be interested to hear how the details work, Rick, in both regards, and I'm very excited for you and Alex!
> 
> I'm old-fashioned enough to think the ceremony invitation is one thing, and the reception another. Or, to avoid any awkwardness, open the reception and have a private dinner celebration another time.
> 
> It was my understanding the sacrament of marriage doesn't "officially" open until Advent 1. This also requires some detail work, I imagine; we have some married-elsewhere couples at St. James who have held off the current options (while others have opted for them). Does the blessing of an already-performed civil marriage open to equality before Advent 1? I don't know that we have any couples chomping at the bit, but I expect some dates may be requested by early next (secular) year.
> 
> Peace,
> Jo