Is it a must that wedding(matrimony) must celebrated on a Saturday?

In this part of the world, we are so much accustomed to celebrating wedding on Saturdays that scheduling it on days outside Saturday seems unthinkable.

Generally, wedding in the Catholic Church which is called matrimony could be done on any day, from Monday to Sunday. There are only two days on which a wedding cannot be celebrated: Good Friday and Easter Saturday, because of the spiritual meaning of these days.

However, according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, on the Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter, there cannot be a ritual Mass (GIRM, 372), because the Sundays of Advent, Lent and Easter, are among the principal level celebrations in the liturgical table of precedence, and ritual masses are connected to the celebration of certain Sacraments or Sacramentals. So, Sunday masses of Advent, Lent, and Easter are liturgically more important than the ritual mass of matrimony.

Therefore, if matrimony is to be celebrated at a mass on Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter, the prayers and readings are to be from the Sunday Mass of the day rather than a nuptial(wedding) Mass. On those Sundays, the Order of Matrimony without Mass may be fully used.

However, it depends on the dioceses and in some cases bishops’ conferences to make specific rules adapted to their local pastoral concerns.

It’s important to note that these are flexible according to the availability of the parish and priests, because for example, reasonably some parishes cannot accommodate a wedding on a Sunday, and some priests have too many things on their schedule to accept a Sunday wedding. Dialogue with your parish priests to know what’s suitable.

© Fr. Henry Charles Umelechi, 2023