Thank you for thinking about being married in church.

At an early stage you need to contact the Priest in Charge, Rev'd Ann Kember to complete a basic form which enables her to confirm that you are able to get married in one of our churches, or what steps you will have to take to enable this to happen. On the website you will see that it sets out the legal requirements and these days there are many ways to enable you to get married in a church of your choice.

Generally, she will meet with couples on three occasions:

1 To complete the ‘Banns form’ which covers the legal requirements, including identity checks for which you will need to bring your passport or other forms of identity. This meeting effectively books the date and the church for your wedding. The meeting usually takes 30-45 minutes. At this meeting he will also give you information about the service, material to take away and an idea of the cost of the service.

2 About four months prior to your wedding ‘A space to think’, this is a longer meeting, usually up to two hours. This enables you both to reflect on some of the promises that you will be taking and enables us to plan your service. We set the dates for the reading of your banns and confirm the cost of your wedding.

3 The rehearsal. This happens in the church, in the week before your wedding, and enables the couple to walk through the service.

Planning your service

Useful website

The website www.yourchurchwedding.org is provided by the Church of England has been set up to help you through the process of planning your special day. It contains lots of useful information. There are also pages on possible hymns and Bible readings.

Music

Hymns

It is usual to have two or three hymns.

Copyright

Reproduction of hymns within service sheets is subject to copyright law. For all modern hymns and songs that are still in copyright it is essential that the church copyright licence number is displayed on the sheet. Please discuss with the minister whether this will be necessary for your service.

Entrance and exit music

None of our churches have the facilities for the playing of pre-recorded music. Therefore, brides enter, and couples leave to organ music. The choice of music is decided by the couple in consultation with the organist and the minister taking the service. This must be finalised two months in advance so that if special music is required it can be purchased and rehearsed.

Use of performers and choirs

Occasionally couples have friends who are musicians and desire them to take part in the service or wish to arrange for a choir to be present. This should be discussed with the minister well in advance and finalised a minimum of two months in advance. This is essential if music has to be co-ordinated with the organist.

Readings

It is usual to have one or two readings in a service, one must come from the Bible.

Flowers

Couples are welcome to decorate the church, this should be discussed with the minister or churchwardens well in advance of the service.

Photography

Most couples employ a professional photographer to take photographs during the service. If you are not using a professional photographer then you can nominate one person to take photos. The positioning of the photographer is discussed with the couple during the preparation phase and on the day with the photographer. No other photography is permitted during the service.

What will your wedding cost?

The cost of the wedding is set out in law.

2020

Publication of Banns            £31.00

Marriage service                 £463.00

Marriage Certificate.             £11.00

                                               £505.00

In addition, there is a charge for the organist and bell ringers, if required. This varies from church to church. If you are getting married in the months from October to March, then we add a charge of £25 towards the heating of the church. I will let you know well in advance what the charge will be.

Fees for Marriage Certificate

The fee for a certified copy of the entry in the marriage register, at time of registration or subsequently, is £11.00.

If you need to have your banns called in another parish this will be subject to an additional charge.

Publication of Banns       £31.00

Certificate of Banns         £14.00

                                            £45.00

If you need to have your banns read in another parish, (where one or both of you live) then you can find the details of your local church by logging onto ‘a church near you’ website and entering your postcode. www.achurchnearyou.com

Banns need to be called in the three months prior to your wedding in the parish in which each of you live and also the parish in which you will be married.

We hope this will help you plan your wedding day. Please get in touch.