WEDDINGS

WEDDINGS

Marrying in church is personal, meaningful, spiritual and beautiful, just as you want it to be.
The Church of England has a website dedicated to weddings where you can discover all you need to know about Church of England weddings and blessings. It is well worth spending some time on that website.
Meanwhile, before contacting the vicar, it would be helpful if you are aware of the following information.

IN WHICH CHURCH CAN YOU BE MARRIED?

Many people marry in their own local church, but you might like to marry in a different church because it has special significance for you through family or other connections.
It’s possible there are a number of churches that you can get married in legally, as a bride and groom-to-be can marry in a church away from where they live if either of them can show just one of seven connections with the parish.
These connections are as follows:
You can marry in a Church of England church if you can show that one of you:

has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
was baptised (christened) in the parish concerned or
was prepared for confirmation in the parish or
has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months

OR
That one of your parents, at any time after you were born:

has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months
or has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months

OR
That one of your parents or grandparents:

was married in the parish.

And did you know that if you move house, you’re immediately connected to the church there? That means you can marry in the church of your new parish.

PLEASE NOTE ~ when reference is made to church services – i.e. attending normal church services - or to baptism, confirmation and marriage, this applies only to Church of England services.

SETTING A DATE FOR YOUR WEDDING

Whilst we will always try to accommodate your preferred date, we hope you will understand that this is not always possible.
There are a few things to discuss with the vicar before your wedding date can be confirmed at church, so make contact sooner rather than later.
It’s best to make this contact around the same time as you contact, or visit, your reception venue, so you can synchronise the dates. There are a number of important reasons to have this conversation in good time:

It will ensure the vicar has time to advise you about the legal requirements for marrying at the church – some circumstances require legal preliminaries that take time to process.
Churches can become booked up for weddings several months in advance, or there could be other things happening like community events at the church on or around your preferred date.
Clergy may not be available to officiate on your preferred date.
We ask you to avoid the Christmas and New Year period (especially between 23rd December and 5th January.) You will understand that December is the busiest time of the year in the church. It is also worth bearing in mind that this is a time of year when your guests might wish to be elsewhere.
At Easter our calendar can also become very crowded.
Clergy are encouraged to take time off after Easter and Christmas. This holiday forms part of their annual allocation.

FILMING YOUR WEDDING

As well as considering a professional videographer, many of your guests may have cameras and/or phone cameras of their own too, and may share those recordings with others, for example on social networking sites. Regardless of who is doing the filming, there are legal considerations when filming a public event like a wedding, especially if musicians and music are part of the recording. This is because filming affects copyright and other performing rights of musicians, which could impact on the total cost of your wedding. Talk everything through with the vicar well ahead of time to make sure everything is in place for the big day.