Question to Gauge Interest - Mass Booklet Planner

joe316

Hi all,

Please dont think I am looking for money/business.

My wife is a recent graduate of a masters in pastoral studies and at the moment is a fantastic stay at home mammy of our 11 month old, she's planning on doing this for the next couple of years as thankfully we dont need her to go back to work.

I was thinking of a possible business idea for her that she could do in her spare time was to help couples plan their mass booklet (now I know in modern Ireland that a lot of people dont go for the catholic wedding but there are still those that do). She gets unbelievably frustrated when we go to weddings and one of the readings is the Wedding at Cana, she says it has nothing to do with weddings or love or marriage (dont ask me!). A lot of people commented on the readings and prayers that she selected for our wedding so it got me thinking would couples be interested in working with someone to plan their mass booklet?

This could be a terrible idea but people spend thousands on wedding planners but nothing but a google search (if you are not religiously inclined) on the mass booklet which I suppose when you look at it is in the whole point of the day, the wedding ceremony.

Just a thought and thought I would throw it out to the masses to see if there would be any interest.

Berty

No.

I have an issue with the overall cost of the stationery in this country as it is let alone paying somebody to plan it. There are so many templates available online and the Priest approves it first anyway so I doubt people would be seeking another service to put together an order of service that, frankly, most guests don't care for anyway.

BizzyC

Also no, wouldn't see any market for this.

If someone wants guidance on nice readings or how to lay out the mass, they have a priest they can talk to. No need to pay a 3rd party to get involved for such a minor aspect of the day.

Edit:
Minor referring to the mass booklet of course, not the actual ceremony.

StillWaters

I do think there is a market. Not a huge one, she won't be a millionaire. But I would have paid for this.

Also, although not as romantic, I could see a market for this in the funeral industry.

lazygal

I think people only really how much hassle they are after the fact. We didn't have a church wedding but got orders of service printed at relatively low cost. I know most of my friends who had church weddings did their own and cursed the things, but it was seen as one area where you could save a few bob.

cmbutterfly45

I'm finding with weddings there is always someone who will pay for any type of service with the word wedding on it, however I wouldn't ill be doing my own and just got a template online with the readings already there so tbh ill probably just keep them ones!!

hoodwinked

our priest gave us two books with readings in them, using his advice, that of my religious mother in law, and other peoples mass books we put the order together with relatively little fuss or time or cost,

for the most part people having the religious wedding ceremony these days would be religious themselves or have someone in the family who would know the score.

so no i wouldn't imagine if i were to do it again or my relatives were getting married we would hire someone to do it,

but thats not to say someone else would?

Dolbert

I think this could be a viable idea, but only if she also provided the printing. Planning it alone wouldn't cut it IMO.

Jelly2

The booklet can already be done using www.gettingmarried.ie. It provides a template for the service, and suggestions for readings and prayers from which to choose too. I would say this is enough for anyone.

Ms2011

Did my own booklet up, not particularly hard or time consuming if you're any way computer literate. No something I'd pay for.

XMASSmrstobe

Hi,

I actually think very few people spend money on wedding planners - if you look at the recent survey figures in detail while they state an 'AVERAGE' spend of €xxxxx they also stipulate that few couples actually used a wedding planner. Thus the figure was compiled only from those that actually did use the service. Perhaps email or contact the companies that conduct the surveys (eg MRSTOBE.ie) to find out the exact figures: http://www.mrs2be.ie/wedding-business/irish-wedding-survey-2013/

I'd also suggest that while the religious mass is very important for some people, the need to conduct a pre-marriage course (€200) and pay for a priest and church (in our parish, even if you are a parishioner you contribute) means that the 'ceremony' part is already quite expensive for many couples. Flowers and musicians (if wanted) are also an extra cost. Most people prefer to DIY the booklet, mainly as it is the item they are prepared to compromise on. Thus they don't have the budget or time left over to have it perfect! :eek: Also people frequently use readings that mean something to them and their interpretation - despite knowing that the original suggestion meant something different. E.G. I have been told that the word 'to obey' came from the Latin - oboedre - meaning simply 'to listen to'. Knowing that doesn't make me any more comfortable with its use

If your wife is very interested she may be better set to establish a blog or something on the internet and perhaps look to printers to pay for advertising rights? Hope this helps. Thanks and best of luck with your family