In case you weren't able to tell from my oh-so-clever title, it's time to talk about our church selection! This decision-making process lasted for about 30 seconds, making it my favorite (read: least stressful) decision of the wedding planning ordeal so far! Here's the dealio: GG and I both grew up Catholic, and we both have some pretty Catholic grandmas, so getting married in the Catholic Church was simultaneously a no-brainer and a non-negotiable (no one really said it was a non-negotiable, but the vibes were definitely there). We grew up attending different parishes in Johnstown, about 10 minutes away from each other, so the real decision was whose home church got to host this shindig.
Option 1: St. Clement (GG's church)
GG's family was very involved in this parish while they lived in Johnstown, GG had his Eagle Scout ceremony there, and its location was on a main drag in town, making it easy to get to.
Option 2: Our Mother of Sorrows (OMOS) (my church)
This has been my family's home church since we moved to Johnstown before I was born, all 5 of us kids attended the parish's elementary school up through 8th grade, and it's a whopping 5-minute drive from my house, where I'll be getting bride-ified.
Two contenders, but there can only be one winner. Because my family is still connected to OMOS and it's a smidge closer to Team Bride's headquarters, it came out victorious. Although I'm not supremely religious, I am quite excited about our selection of church, since it's always been sort of my default church in my years of wedding daydreams. It has a long aisle (at least in my opinion), which is obviously stupendous for weddings, high ceilings, cool architecture, and just the right amount of nostalgia for it to feel like a home church.
Here's a picture of the interior:
One kind of quirky attribute of the church, that you may or may not be able to see in the above picture is the mosaic behind the altar. Because the church is named "Our Mother of Sorrows," there is a massive mosaic of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels, with knives piercing her flaming heart. I think it's safe to say that this may not be the most joyous or warm visual to use as a backdrop for a wedding, but what can I say, I've been staring at or past that mosaic for 20+ years by now, so it doesn't even phase me. I am a little interested to see how newbies respond to the artwork, since it can be a bit jarring, so I'm told. Either way, I'm confident that they'll be able to see the joy of the occasion being held in the church with the sorrowful namesake... right?
Did you have an easy decision regarding ceremony venue because of familial connections or nostalgia?
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