I was raised Catholic and apparently it's a sin to attend a marriage where the bride or groom are baptized (as a baby) or confirmed (as a teenager) as Catholics if the wedding is not in a Catholic church. However, I'm told that attending marriages of people who have no connection whatsoever to the Catholic church is okay for Catholics. I'm not exactly clear on all the rules regarding wedding attendance.

My husband and I (both confirmed Catholics who have left the church) got married in a family member's backyard. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think several of the family members who RSVP'd no likely did so due to the location of the ceremony.

The weird thing is that changing our backyard ceremony into a formal Catholic marriage requires only an apology (confession) and bit of paperwork at our local church, so it strikes me as rather sad that people my husband and I care about missed out on celebrating our wedding with us. I mean, obviously it was ultimately their choice whether to follow these rules or not (and maybe they don't actually care about us), but still...it seems sad.