Nuptial Mass and Nuptial Blessing

A Nuptial Mass is the fuller form of the Catholic wedding rite, including the marriage rite proper within the celebration of the Eucharist. The shorter form of the Catholic wedding, a ceremony without Mass, omits the Eucharist; everything else is the same. The Nuptial Blessing is the specific prayer of the Church over the newly married couple, given by the priest after the exchange of consent and (in a Mass) after the Lord's Prayer; the Blessing is theologically distinct from the consent itself (the consent confers the sacrament; the Blessing is the Church's prayer over the marriage just formed). A wedding between two Catholics is typically a Nuptial Mass; a wedding between a Catholic and a non-Catholic Christian is normally a ceremony without Mass.