Hi, I missed where you wrote you were married in a civil ceremony. That is why you would have to be remarried in the Church. If you do this before your wife officially enters into the Church then a dispensation is needed because of the fact she is non Catholic. I believe the dispensation is granted by the Bishop. This is being done before her entering into the Church because if the marriage is invalid you and she may not receive the sacraments of reconcilation and/or Holy Communion.
If you had both been Protestant and married in the Lutheran church then the marriage would be considered valid by the Catholic Church. But if you a Catholic had married a Protestant in a Protestant Church the marriage would not be regarded as valid. This is because the marriage of a Catholic must take place before a Catholic priest and at least two witnesses. What the procedure is for validating the marriage when the Protestant spouse enters the Church I don’t know.
OP here...
Keep coming with the comments. This is extremely helpful!
Just a point of clarification...
We were married in a Congregationalist church. The Reverend allowed us to customize the ceremony, with his overall approval.