If
you're thinking of getting married we'd love you to come and
talk with us about it.
We can tell you about the practicalities of a church wedding.
As the law stands, you can marry in either of the above churches
if one of you lives in the parish (the parish to a church is
a bit like the constituency to an MP). If you are not sure where
the boundaries are, please ring and find out.
Alternatively, it is possible to marry in Holy Trinity or St
Saviour's when neither of you lives in the parish through one
of the following means…
1.
Under special circumstances (eg strong family links with the
church) you can apply, with our agreement, to the Archbishop
of Canterbury for a 'Special Licence'. If he grants this, you
can marry in one of our churches.
2. You can become a member of the church. This means coming
regularly to Sunday services for a period of 6 months and then
applying to go onto our membership ('Electoral Roll').
As far as the church is concerned, neither of you needs to be
baptised. However, if either of you is divorced our policy is
to offer service of Thanksgiving (very like marriage service
but without vows) and this follows on from a civil ceremony.
However, we do have a limited flexibility on this so please
do still contact the Vicar and talk things through.
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.
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!
Contact
the vicar, Rev Nick Grew by calling him on 01483 473489 or send
him an e-mail
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