Getting Married in St Mary’s
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 St Mary’s 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 Parish but in addition, if a couple lives outside 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 worshiping at St Mary’s.
These connections need to be discussed with the Vicar 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, St Mary’s offers a wedding package which, for a fixed fee, includes the cost of the organist, the verger and all the statutory fees charged at St Mary’s. In 2012 the package costs £590 but please note there may be additional costs involved due to your individual choices and circumstances.
All couples getting married in St Mary’s are invited to meet with the Vicar 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 Vicar, 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.