The Church of England has been urged to abolish fees for couples marrying in its churches amid a sharp decline in the number of traditional ceremonies.
Blackburn Diocesan Synod has put forward a proposal to set marriage fees at nil or a minimal amount so that “everyone who wants to get married in church should be able to, without worrying about affordability”.
The Rev Dr Tom Woolford, from the diocese, said that churches were facing competition in the wedding market, with thousands more licensed venues and specialist venues offering the convenience of an all-in-one ceremony and reception on the same premises.
He said: “It is far better to offer marriage for free than not at all, which is increasingly becoming the reality in many parishes.”
Fees are set by the Church of England. It costs a minimum of £560 for couples marrying away from home, or £512 in their parish. This covers the cost of the vicar, use of the church, calling out the banns and administration, but not “extras” such as an organist, choir or bell ringers.
Basic fees have risen by 300 per cent over the past 22 years, Woolford said, and over the same period the number of Church of England weddings nationally has fallen by 50 per cent, from 63,371 in 1999 to 31,430 in 2019.
Even fewer church weddings have been taking place in poorer areas such as Blackpool, where there was a 79 per cent drop between 2010 and 2018.
Woolford said that “anecdotally, many clergy speak of couples making enquiries about getting married in their parish church, only to baulk at the cost when informed”.
He conceded, however, that cost is not the only reason for the decline in church weddings, and that the fall was partly down to growing secularisation within society. Baptisms are free but have also fallen, he admitted, though only by about half the rate of weddings.
The proposals were put forward before a meeting of the General Synod, the church’s parliament, next month. They are due to be debated. However, with dwindling funds, the Church of England does not appear to be in favour of removing the fee.
Couples who have married in church have mixed views over whether the fee should be scrapped. Evie Pearce, 27, who works in engineering, married her husband, Dewi, 30, a firefighter, at St John the Baptist Church, Barnack, Cambridgeshire, last July.
She said: “We wanted to get married in church, but it did work out more expensive. We paid about £500 and we had to pay for the organist even if we didn’t have them play. If they did abolish fees, maybe it would make the church more at the heart of the community again.”
William Nye, secretary-general of the Synod, said: “A wholesale elimination or reduction of the fee would be a poorly targeted intervention as many couples can afford to pay the fee, which represents a small proportion of the overall cost of their wedding. The income lost from setting the fee to nil or a nominal amount reduces the resource available to fund ministry, including in the poorest areas — at a time when many dioceses … are facing deficits.”
He added that a priest or rural dean has an option of waiving or reducing the fee in cases of “clear financial hardship”. About 5 per cent of marriage fees were waived in 2019.
In response, the Church of England urged couples to get married in their churches. A spokeswoman said: “A church wedding is a unique occasion in which a couple exchange time-honoured vows in a special and spiritual atmosphere. We know from research that many couples want this for their wedding day, whether they are regular churchgoers or not.
“We would like to reassure couples that they don’t have to be christened or confirmed, and we welcome couples who already have children — just ask.”