Confirmation in the parish is usually an exclusive celebration. In many places, the bishop insists on a merging of parishes. Sometimes that resulting liturgy is at the cathedral, at one of the large parishes, or even at a local high school.
The Rite insists on the importance of believers outside the circle of family and friends. How often do friends of the confirmands get invited to the liturgy?
4. Pains should be taken to give the liturgical service the festive and solemn character that its significance for the local Church requires. This will be achieved above all if the candidates are gathered together for a community celebration of the rites. All the people of God, represented by the families and friends of the candidates and by members of the local community, will be invited to take part in such a celebration and will endeavor to express their faith by means of the effects the Holy Spirit has produced in them.
Catholic Sensibility 