Wedding Forum - Church Weddings...

Now i've always wanted a church wedding.

I used to go to church about ten years ago in the west midlands and i would have loved to have my wedding there. However, i have moved to London and this is where my OH is to. I am not a member of any church, however iv seen a couple of churches that are absolutely beautiful and i would love to get married in them..

has anyone been married in a church that they did not attend and were there any specific requirements, such as attending for a few months before..

Did they charge u a reasonable price to use their venue..

I want to go around and start asking some churches, but i dont know what to expect

As for charges. There is a set legal cost (c of e) that is somewhere around £300, but there will be extra charges for bells, heating, organist and whatever charges your actual chosen church add to it. Mine comes to around £650 inc organist, usher, bells, no flowers (you can provide your own, have the church florist arrange your flowers or stick to the standard church arrangements)

Katie, don't you have to have your bans read at both churches?

Definitely check. They are listed on our church bill, but I know I have to have them read at my Parish Church too and take the certificate with me on wedding day (or before if poss). I may be wrong, but that was the understanding I had.

we were originally going to go for a church but the vicar said we would have to go along every sunday up until the big day next year and with my OH in the navy and goes to sea etc so he couldn't commit to that even though i could and the vicar said no! so we are having a civil ceremony now
xx

my venue is doing both for us, we are getting married on a wedding island outside and we thought about it and this way all our guests are in one place, they aren't having to get from the church to the venue etc we can just get everything into full swing straight after the vows
xx

Most priests and vicars expect one or both of the couple to be already attending that church before agreeing to marry you there unless you can prove a family connection.

Some will agree to it if you agree to both attend every Sunday before the wedding.

I attend church every week but got married in a church far away from the parish hubby and I lived in, but the priest didn't hesitate in letting us get married there because my parents got married there, my sister and I were both baptised there and I had my first communion there.

Just approach the church you're interested in and see what they say.

It depends on the denomination of the church. For Anglican churches, one of you needs to reside in the parish, or have resided in the parish for six months at some point, or attend the church. Then you have to have banns read there, and also in your local parish church if you live in a different parish. You also qualify if you were baptised there, your parents married there, or your parents lived there for six months in your lifetime. For the Catholic church I only know that one of you has to be baptised Catholic. For any other denomination it comes down to the civil registration district that you live in. If you live in the same registration district as the church then you can qualify to marry there on residency grounds, otherwise you will need to start attending it, so that you can qualify on the grounds that it is your regular place of worship. You will then need to give notice in the same way that you would for a secular wedding. Most vicars and ministers are happy to marry couples who don't attend church, providing you understand the Christian beliefs about marriage. You need to be happy to be prayed over and blessed, as this is an integral part of the Christian marriage service.

That's a shame bride2B2B. Some clergy are so jobsworthy, and end up alienating themselves and their church from the rest of society. You find it in any denomination. It wouldn't surprise me if a different Catholic priest would have been more than happy to marry you. My understanding is that one of you has to be a practicing Catholic, and you clearly have been and are prepared to be.

I was lucky and had the understanding priests, 2 of them, my parish priest and the priest of the church we actually got married in, even though at the time I was going to another 3rd church close to work for convenience. I did end up changing where I attended mass because of it.