Wedding
The celebration of love is one of the greatest joys of family life. Marriage, as understood by the Church, is the Sacrament by which a man and a woman are joined together, in the presence of God, in faithfulness and love. By the outward signs of joining hands and giving and receiving rings, the couple are joined together in a lifelong commitment to one another.
When questioned, many couples will say that getting married in church feels more like a proper wedding than any other venue. Indeed thousands of couples get married in church every year and find a warm welcome, and personalised help, in planning and preparing for their special day.
Getting married in church comes with a sense of history, couples have been married in both our churches for hundreds of years, and it also comes with a sense of support and prayer from the community that worships God in this holy place.
Following recent changes to the law, it is even easier to get married in church. The basic requirement is still residency in the ecclesiastical parish but in addition, if a couple lives outside the boundary of the parish they have the option of using a qualifying connection. These connections are various but do include parents living in the parish and parents worshipping at the church.
These connections need to be discussed with the Parish Priest upon application.
Organising the Wedding
Although Saturday is the traditional day for a wedding, many couples are now choosing other days of the week in a bid to reduce costs at the reception venue and avoid a long wait. Weddings can often be arranged for most days of the week depending on the availability of key personnel.
To make the cost of the wedding easier to understand, we offer a wedding package, which, for a fixed fee, includes the cost of the organist, the verger and all the statutory fees, but please note there may be additional costs involved due to your individual choices and circumstances. For further details please get in touch.
All couples getting married in either church are invited to meet with the Parish Priest to help them prepare for their new life together. These meetings will be arranged around your regular commitments and will help you understand the depth and fullness of Christian marriage and prepare you to celebrate this joyous event.
The Wedding Service
Although important elements of the marriage service are fixed there is much that can be chosen by the couple, with the approval of the Parish Priest, to personalise the whole occasion. This will include the music and the hymns as well as the choice of readings and option of celebrating the Eucharist as part of the service.
Optional Extras
We know that many people like to personalise their wedding day so we have some optional extras that can be booked as we think about your wedding day to make the day extra special. These include having the bells rung before and after the service or booking a choir to sing during the service. These extras have a cost which is over and above the wedding package cost and so we can discuss booking them as we plan the service together.
If you would like to explore the possibility of getting married at either of our churches, please get in touch or visit yourchurchwedding.org to find out more.
Blessing after a Civil Marriage
A Service of Blessing can be held after a marriage has been conducted in a registry office or other wedding venue which is not a church. This service can take place either on the day the marriage takes place or at a later date, depending on the wishes of the couple involved.
Like a wedding, there is much to plan and prepare, and choices to be made about music and the order of service. There is also a cost involved in holding a service of blessing but this cost will include the organist and the verger. Please see the page about getting married for further details about the optional extras that can be added to the basic package.
Each person enquiring about a Service of Blessing will meet with the Parish Priest to arrange and plan the service. During these meetings, the optional extras will be booked and the final cost agreed.
For more information, please click here to see guidance from the Church of England.