About Catholic Weddings
Catholic weddings are ones rooted in tradition. Usually taking place at your home church, these weddings are incredibly sentimental. As a Catholic wedding photographer based in Southeast Michigan, I’ve been photographing more traditional Catholic weddings over the past year.
Hi, friend! I’m Catie Eovaldi and I’ve been photographing weddings for the past 3 years. Heading into my fourth year of wedding photography, I believe your wedding photos should truly showcase the emotions, the details, and you in your wedding day. Growing up Catholic has allowed me to be confident when photographing Catholic wedding masses. I know the most important traditions such as Communion, the Nuptial Blessing, and your offering to the Virgin Mary.
Catholic Wedding Mass
Catholic weddings are an entire Mass, which can take about an hour to hour and a half, with a lot of traditions. The wedding mass featured throughout this blog post was held at the beautiful St. Florian Church. I spent a lot of time just taking in the beauty of the stained glass and architecture when I first arrived, ensuring to take detail photos of the church.
This wedding Mass was pretty unique in that it was in both English and Polish. St Florian Catholic Church is known for their Polish services. They had many fliers, bibles, and even parts of the Mass in Polish. While I don’t speak Polish, I was able to keep up with the traditions because the root of traditions stay the same across services.
Like in most Catholic churches I work in, this one did not allow for flash photography. With low lighting, I captured moments throughout the ceremony all without flash and relied heavily on the natural light within the church. This is a common rule I work with in venues and adapting to not use flash is not an issue for me. If you’re getting married in a Catholic church, I’d love to check my availability for you! Connect with me here.
Catholic Wedding Reception
Emily and Zach hosted their wedding reception at The Palazzo Grande. This venue was absolutely stunning to work at. Upon walking through the doors you’re greeted with elegant chandeliers and a self-playing piano. The Palazzo Grande is a venue large enough to host multiple weddings on site at the same time. Couples can rest assured that this won’t service for their wedding reception. There’s plenty of signage for guests to know where they are going! Throughout the evening, I didn’t hear the other wedding happening onsite either, we were blissfully unaware of the other wedding event.
Before we got the party started though, we started exploring outside of The Palazzo Grande first for portraits. Luckily, the girls all had matching furs that kept them warm in the chilly November air. After outdoor portraits, we still had a lot of time before the reception began. We were able to use the lobby to do even more couple portraits and add more variety to their full gallery.
Catholic Wedding Timelines
Oftentimes with Catholic weddings, there are unique elements to the wedding day timeline and how the day should be structured. With your ceremony in a different location from the reception, it’s common for there to be some time in between the 2 events. A typical timeline structure I use for my Catholic couples makes the most of our day together and ensures we capture all the moments important to each one. The below timeline is a general one and won’t work for every couple, but if you’re opting for no first look this would be a good one to follow!
- 11:30am Wedding Party Portraits
- 1:00pm Catholic Ceremony Mass
- 2:30pm Mass Ends/Marriage License Signing
- 2:45pm Grand Exit from Church
- 2:50pm Guests Clear Out; Family Portraits inside Home Parish
- 3:00pm Full Wedding Party & Couple Portraits
- 4:30pm Cocktail Hour at Reception Venue Begins (Couple Attends)
- 5:30pm Grand Entrance into Reception
- 6:00pm Dinner Service
- 7:00pm Special Dances; Open Dancing Following
- 10:00pm Grand Exit from Reception
About Your Catholic Wedding Photographer
About Me
Hi friend! I’m Catie Eovaldi- author of this post and your Southeast & Mid Michigan wedding photographer. I often travel for wedding days all over Michigan and specialize in capturing moments rooted in connection and authenticity. My favorite part of wedding photography is documenting a day as it unfolds- the emotions as dad walks you down the aisle, the tears mom has in her eyes seeing you as a groom, your dog running down the aisle in excitement to see you. Every wedding has been so unique and special in its own way and documenting it is such an honor.
I started capturing more Catholic wedding days in 2025, focusing on the more traditional wants of each couple. I’m excited to be working at St Florian’s again for 2026, but also to be working in even more churches across Michigan.
Catholic Wedding Photography Services
I love working with couples hosting a traditional Catholic wedding. There’s something so special about having such a traditional ceremony and then a rockin’ party with your closest friends and family! I have 2 packages that are perfect for Catholic weddings.
My Full Day Package has been crafted for those wanting 8 hours of coverage. This package is popular for couples hosting a traditional Catholic wedding. It includes:
- 2 photographers (me plus my professional second photographer) for up to 8 hours
- Film & digital photography
- Mini Polaroid album delivered day of
- Engagement Session
- 30 day gallery delivery
- 24 hour sneak peeks
- Timeline and other planning assistance
- Travel within Michigan
My Full Weekend Package has been crafted for couples wanting the entire wedding weekend documented. This package is the favorite of families for large church celebrations. It includes:
- 2 photographers (me plus my trusted second)
- Up to 10 hours day of
- Engagement session
- Film & digital photography
- Mini Polaroid album delivered during our time together
- 3 hours of rehearsal dinner photography coverage
- Specially handcrafted luxury wedding album
- 30 day gallery delivery
- 24 hour sneak peeks
- Timeline and other planning assistance
- Travel within Michigan
You can connect with me here to check my availability!
