If
you're thinking of getting married - Congratulations! We'd love
you to come and talk with us about it.
You're welcome to marry in church whatever your beliefs, whether
or not you are baptised and whether or not you go to church.
And, marrying in church has never been easier thanks to a change
in the law from 1st October 2008 which means you now have more
churches to choose from.
You
may have clicked the link in our website because either Holy
Trinity or St Saviour's is your local church and you live in
our parish. However, even if you don't live in our parish, you
may want to marry at one of our churches because it has special
significance for you through family or other special connections.
An engaged couple can now do just that if either of you can
show just one of the following seven connections with the parish.
That
one of you:
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
In
all cases involving church services - i.e. going to normal church
services, baptism, confirmation or marriage - this applies only
to Church of England services. Even if you cannot demonstrate
any of the above connections, we want to help you explore whether
it may still be possible for you to marry in your special church.
For example, you can attend church services for six months or
more in order to be placed on the electoral roll.
Of
course, the same applies for all other Church of England
churches. If you live in our parish but you would prefer to
marry in an alternative church and can demonstrate any connection
as described above you should contact the Vicar of the church
in question. A handy website to find the church you're looking
for is www.achurchnearyou.com
Marriage
after Divorce
Your church wishes you a lifetime of love that grows within
God's protection. We recognise that some marriages do fail for
all sorts of sad and painful reasons. If either of you is divorced
this does not mean you cannot be married in either of our churches.
Our policy is to allow marriage after divorce under certain
circumstances. You will need to approach the Vicar to discuss
your situation so that he can explain how things stand and understand
where you're coming from. At that point, we can decide whether
a wedding can take place in church or whether we offer a service
of Thanksgiving (very like marriage service but without vows)
following on from a civil ceremony.
If you decide you do want to be married in Holy Trinity or St
Saviour's, here's the process:-
1.
Contact the Vicar (01483 473489) to arrange a meeting. Usually
this is many months before the planned wedding date.
2. At the meeting he can answer questions and show you around.
You'll be given a form to fill in with various personal details
and other information such as the proposed date and time. You
pay a £20 non-returnable deposit to confirm your booking.
You can download a copy of this form here.
3. Several months before the wedding both of you and maybe some
other couples will be invited to 2 evenings with the Vicar.
At the first we'll look at the wedding service and all it means.
At the second we'll look at what marriage is all about. These
sessions are informal and most couples find them useful and
enjoyable
4.
The Vicar will set up a special meeting with just the two of
you to talk through your wedding itself in detail. You will
know by then who else to contact about music etc.
5.
A couple of days before the wedding you meet with the vicar
and other key people (eg Best Man & Bride's Father), to have
a rehearsal in church. This is when you pay the balance of the
fees due (typically, around £300).
6.
The great day arrives…… !!
The
Marriage service begins by quoting from the Bible God is love,
and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them
- 1 John 4:16.
We
don't think there can be a better place for a wedding than in
church so please come and talk with us!
Click
here to download a copy of our wedding leaflet
Many
fortunate couples feel that they already have most of the belongings
that they need for married life. So, instead of a conventional
wedding list, they either ask their wedding guests to make donations
to a charity that they support or identify a few key gifts that
they need and run a charity list alongside their gift list.
If you think this is a great idea, click
here to find out more!
We'd like to recommend the special Church
of England website which is dedicated to helping you plan
your special day. You can listen to a selection of the most
well-loved wedding hymns, find out about cost-saving tips for
your wedding, take a look at some of the most popular Readings
for a wedding ceremony, find out all about the reading of banns
and those all-important wedding vows.
In
the meantime, contact the vicar, Rev Nick Grew by calling him
on 01483 473489 or send him an e-mail
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