What's the Difference?

What's the difference between a Mormon temple wedding 

and a Mormon church wedding?

I've been asked that a lot lately.

So allow me to explain.

For starters, one takes place in the temple, the other in a church.

So what's the difference between a temple and a church?

A lot of things.

One, the temple isn't even open on Sundays.

Or Mondays for that matter.

Two, anyone can go to a Mormon church.

But only Mormons can go to a temple.

And even Mormons have to go through an interview process to show that they are worthy to enter the House of the Lord.

We are asked a series of questions about living God's commandments.

And you should answer them truthfully.

And if you're living God's laws, and are worthy, then you receive a temple recommend.

A slip of paper that says you can enter the temple.

The St. Paul LDS Temple

So, the actual ceremony.

A wedding performed in a Mormon temple is called a "sealing."

It is given this name because a couple is "sealed" as husband and wife for eternity.

In a church wedding, with a civil ceremony, a couple is sealed "till death parts us."

The temple sealing is the most sacred ordinance in the Mormon church.

Should a couple choose to do a civil ceremony first, they must wait at least a year after the civil ceremony until they can be sealed in the temple together.

So why would a couple want to wait a year then?

There's a couple reasons.

Perhaps one (or both) of the couple is not worthy to enter the temple yet.

Or perhaps there is not a temple near enough for the couple to get to for their special day.

Or, as in mine and Tom's case, perhaps the couple chooses not to marry in the temple for non-members.

With my parents (and the rest of my giant family) not being Mormons, it was hard for them to accept me getting married in the temple without them.

So Thomas and I chose to do a civil ceremony first.

In about a year, we'll have a sealing ceremony in the St. Paul temple.

Now, a sealing ceremony is not like a big extravagant wedding that you're probably envisioning in your head.

It's a small, simple ceremony.

You can find more pictures of sealing rooms if you type
"LDS temple sealing room" in Google.

In a beautiful room.

There's no march down an aisle, no music as you enter the room.

No bridesmaids or groomsmen.

The bride and groom kneel at an alter together, facing each other.

A few witnesses (like, we're talking about 20) sit in chairs behind the bride and groom.

The ceremony is performed, the blessing said, and the bride and groom are husband and forever until the end of time.

There is not even a formal "exchanging of the rings" in the sealing.

In the sealing room, there are mirrors on either side of the wall, behind the bride and groom.
So that as the blessing is performed, the bride and groom look at each other through the mirrors, and they see their spouse repeated again and again, for infinity.
This symbolizes the eternal bond between the couple.

Then the new husband and wife walk out of the temple to friends and family waiting excitedly.

Pictures our taken, hugs shared.

Usually the bride and groom then have an open house after the ceremony.

Basically a reception.

And everyone is invited to eat, dance, and be merry. 

So those are the big differences.

So now how is a Mormon church wedding different than any other church wedding?
Well, it's not all that different.

We don't do bread & water.

(Some Catholic weddings will be full masses with communion)

We don't do a wedding march down the aisle.

But we have scriptures read.

The Bishop (similar to a priest or pastor) speaks about marriage.

We have our first kiss after being announced husband and wife!

And we exchange our rings.

And then of course, a fun reception afterwards! 

So. 

That's the ceremony in a nutshell.

And the difference between temple and church weddings.

Hope you learned something!