The moment when a couple face each other and make promises about spending the rest of their lives together is a moving as well as a joyful event and it is our desire to make your special day just that - very special.
We can help you organise the service at St Swithins - please feel free to ask Matthew, or any of his team if you have any questions. We also want to help you understand the meaning of the promises you will be making.
The process of getting married begins from the moment you let us know that you would like to consider getting married in Church.
...Congratulations! You want to get married and you are thinking of having your service in St Swithins. First of all there are some questions we have to ask:
It is now possible for people to get married in a Church where they have (or have had) a reasonable family connection. To make it easier, the Church Council has drawn up a Policy which lays out the situation clearly. Click here to find out where you can get married
If you have been married before, it is often possible for you to have your wedding in the Church and you need to check with Matthew if this is possible for you. However, if that is not possible, we would be delighted to have a service of Blessing for you and you can ask Matthew for details of this.
At St Swithins we will do our best to cater for whatever date and time you would like to book for your service, but it may not always be possible due to holidays and the availability of the people who are needed for your service. The best thing is to suggest a time and date as soon as possible and ask for it to be booked in the diary.
Once you have booked St Swithins for the date and time of your service, we will ask you to fill out a Banns Form. Getting married is a legal occasion when the Minister who marries you will act as the Registrar. So it is vital (for all legal reasons) that we have all of your details down correctly from the start. If one of you lives in another parish, then you will have to arrange to see the Vicar of that parish so that you can fill in a Banns Form in that parish too.
The Banns are an announcement in the Church that you are intending to get married and lets everyone know - as well as being a legal requirement to check you are telling the truth.☺ The Banns are usually read in one of the morning services of the parishes concerned and you do not need to go to hear them being read – but it is quite nice to do so.
You will need to check when the Banns are being read in the other parish and bring a Certificate from the Vicar of that Parish to prove they have been read. It may sound a bit complicated, but it does become clear.
Getting married in church is not cheap, but it involves a lot of different things, including the administration costs of the wedding, the Minister, the Organist and Choir, the Verger, as well as a contribution towards the running of the building and a lot more. Some aspects of the cost are "optional", such as having the bells rung or flowers arranged for you - but we will be able to give you a full breakdown of the cost of your wedding and when it all needs to be paid.
Once everything has been booked, we will arrange for you to come to see Matthew, or another minister if you have a preference, who will be officiating at your wedding and some other times when we can help you understand the nature of marriage and the promises you will be making at your wedding. There will also be a Wedding Rehearsal, usually a couple of days before the wedding, when we go through the service so that you will be confident of what to say and where to stand on the big day.
You will need to start planning the details of your wedding service. There are lots of resources for your wedding service on the Internet. Try this site: www.yourchurchwedding.org
Our prayer is that God will bless you in your new life together and will equip you to have the most abundant relationship possible!