Weddings
One of the most delightful parts of life at our churches is sharing a couple’s wedding day. Your wedding is a crucial act of commitment and dedication. A wedding in church is also an act of worship and prayer, where we ask for God’s blessing on your relationship and pray for your future life together. We will work with you to make your wedding very special and personal, and to provide as good a foundation for your life together as we can.
All three of our churches provide lovely settings for a wedding.
Frequently asked questions:
Q: Who can get married in our churches?
1: First you need to be legally free to marry, and we need to satisfy ‘legal preliminaries’ which in the end are all about building on established relationships that will help enrich and sustain your marriage in the future.
2. Any couple where at least one of you lives in the parishes of Lyndhurst, Emery Down and Minstead can be married in any of our churches. As long as one of you does live in one of the parishes, you would simply need to arrange to have your ‘Banns’ read in the other parish as well as here.
3. If you are on the church Electoral Roll of one of the parishes because you worship with us, you can also be married by Banns, even if you don’t live in the parishes.
4. If you worship with us regularly, but are not on our church Electoral Roll, you can be married by ‘Common Licence’, which requires you to swear an ‘affidavit’ (a legal declaration) before the Bishop’s Surrogate for Marriages.
5. In special circumstances, where you have a long-standing and living link with one of the parishes, ie your parents live here, you can apply for the ‘Archbishop’s Special Licence’. These are not granted automatically, and you need the approval of your home parish incumbent, and the incumbent of these parishes before you can go ahead.
These guidelines may seem restrictive, but again, they’re all about relationship and building long term support and stability in an ever changing world.
Q: What if one of us has been previously divorced?
A: If one of you has been married before we may be able to marry you. The Church of England has recently produced guidelines on the circumstances under which this may take place.
Q: How much will it cost?
A: The fees for the service, including calling of banns and your marriage certificate, for 2006 are £308. There are additional fees for the common and special licences, bells, organist, choir and heating. To take you enquiry further please contact the Parish Office (023 8028 2154) on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning. This should be done as early as possible before setting dates.
Useful Links:
CofE Weddings: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/weddings/
CofE Wedding Service: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/marriage/marriage.html