Getting Married at St Luke's

By one partner living in the parish.
By one partner being on the Electoral Roll or the membership list of the church.
By Archbishop's licence which costs about £150.

How can you be married?

The normal way is by the calling of banns in the Anglican parish churches where each person lives and where a person is on the Electoral Roll. This means you must apply for banns to be read in the other churches and not just the one where you are being married. The banns will be read in St Luke's about two months before the wedding date. Alternatively you can be married by licence if one partner lives abroad.

More details of the law governing marriage in the Church of England can be found on the Church of England website here.

What decisions have to be made?

Here is a list of questions for you to think through.

1. Have you discussed together why you want to be married in church? What plans have you made to attend church? Would you like to learn more about the Christian faith?

2. Have you decided on the date and time? Book this first and the following questions can be decided nearer the time.

prayer book and rings 3. We normally use the new marriage service and we will arrange a time to explain and rehearse the service but there are some options for you to consider.

Do you want an organist and do you want the organist to play any special music.
Do you want hymns - normally two or three - and if so which ones.
Do you want the bells - (extra cost £80).
Do you want extra flowers above the normal cost of £35. Two small stands on the chancel steps cost from £25.
If there is more than one wedding on same day and one wedding party wishes a special colour scheme that is not acceptable to the other wedding a neutral shade will be used.

The cost of the basic wedding with an organist and flowers is about £346.50

4. We will send you a letter inviting you to a meeting with two of our church members, with two or three other couples who are also getting married in St Luke's for a short course of Marriage Preparation. The evening will be full of laughter and will help open up all the important areas of married life for you to discuss and think about together. This is an important part of the preparation and we hope you will do all you can to attend.

5. Please contact the office again about 3 months before the wedding to confirm these options, arrange a rehearsal date and find out when the banns will be read.

Please contact the office if you have any queries. Contact details are here.

You may also find this page on the Diocesan Registry website helpful.

this page was last modified on 19 February 2008