The initiative to publish the book was born from the observation of an increasingly frequent concern among many young people: to live this stage of Christian life with greater awareness, depth, and joy.
While accompanying young people in various formative and apostolic spaces, the consecrated Paulina Tena and Leslie Chayeb began encountering a recurring reality. Many couples preparing for marriage would come to them for guidance in organizing their wedding Mass or to delve into the meaning of what they were about to celebrate. Behind the practical questions lay a deeper search: to understand the meaning of the sacrament and to live it fully.
That experience sparked a question that eventually turned into a project: how to accompany more couples without losing the richness of that preparatory journey? The answer took shape in a book that brings together years of pastoral experience, reflection, and dialogue with young people who wish to build their marriage on solid foundations of faith.
A guide born from companionship
The authors explain that the book arose precisely from their closeness to the couples. Many of the couples they knew expressed the desire for their wedding celebration to be more than a tradition or a mere social event. They wanted to understand the meaning of each gesture, each word, and each moment of the matrimonial liturgy.
With that concern as a starting point, The party starts here offers a complete tour of the wedding Mass. Throughout its pages, readers find explanations of the different parts of the celebration, biblical readings, wedding vows, prayers, and various elements that can be part of the ceremony.
The proposal combines practical resources with accessible spiritual reflection. The book includes QR codes that allow access to supplementary materials and offers various options for those aspects that couples must discern and choose during the preparation of the celebration.
The authors point out that numerous resources already exist for organizing the social aspects of a wedding. However, they perceived the need for a tool that would specifically help prepare the Mass and discover the spiritual richness of the sacrament. That's why they wanted to create a guide that would accompany the engaged couple step by step and, at the same time, allow them to delve deeper into the meaning of what they are celebrating.
Rediscover the beauty of the sacrament
Throughout their experience of accompaniment, Paulina and Leslie have observed in many young people a genuine search for meaning. Although cultural and family challenges have changed, they continue to find couples who desire to build a married life rooted in faith and who seek to better understand the vocation to which God calls them.
The authors also perceive that many couples approaching marital preparation arrive with profound questions about love, commitment, family, and a shared life project. For them, this search represents an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and demonstrate its relevance in today's world.
At the same time, they observe that wedding preparations can become absorbed by numerous organizational details. The choice of venue, decorations, music, photography, or reception often occupies a large portion of the couple's attention. In that context, the mass runs the risk of becoming a secondary element of the celebration.
Therefore, the book seeks to refocus attention on the essential. The authors propose dedicating time to understanding the spiritual meaning of marital consent, the wedding blessing, and the eucharistic celebration in which the new family is welcomed by the Church.
From this perspective, wedding preparation also becomes a preparation for receiving sacramental grace. Just as other vocations dedicate time and effort to preparing for a specific mission within the Church, couples can prepare for marriage as a true calling from God.
When the party starts at the altar
The title of the book itself expresses a conviction that runs through the entire work. For Paulina and Leslie, the real celebration begins the moment a couple celebrates the sacrament of marriage before God and the Church.
The expression The party starts here it was born from the experience of contemplating how the wedding mass marks the beginning of a new family story. The celebration, which continues with family and friends, finds its origin and deepest meaning there.
The authors present the Mass as the meeting point between human joy and heavenly joy. In it, two people give themselves to each other to form a new family in God, while the Christian community accompanies and welcomes them in that decisive step of their lives.
Therefore, more than just offering a practical guide, the book seeks to awaken a renewed perspective on Christian marriage. Its desire is for engaged couples to reach their wedding day with a greater understanding of what they are celebrating, with a more conscious faith, and with a joy that springs from encountering God.
Through this proposal, Paulina and Leslie want to accompany couples in seeking the wedding not to be simply the end of a preparation stage or the beginning of a social celebration, but the start of a shared vocation, a new family, and a story that the Church receives with hope and gratitude.
You can get the book in this link.
