Weddings

1. If both parties are either single or widowed

You may be married at St Hugh's Church

• If at least one party lives in St Hugh's, or
• If at least one party's name is on St Hugh's Church Electoral Roll, or
• If at least one party is able to establish a Qualifying Connection with St Hugh's Church or Parish

At least six months notice is required to book a wedding. Make an appointment for the bride and bridegroom to have an initial meeting with the priest in charge or with the churchwardens.

At this first meeting, we will take some personal details from you, book the date and time of the wedding, discuss the kind of service you are going to have and tell you what the church fees are going to be. You will be required to sign a written agreement to pay the fees either at or before the wedding rehearsal, usually a few days before the service.

We will collect from you a non-returnable deposit of £25 as a booking fee.  This amount will be deducted from the total church fees payable in due course.  We will arrange a rehearsal just before the wedding day.

How much does it cost?

The basic fee, as from 1 January 2017, will be £565.00. This is an all-in price including the statutory fees for Banns of Marriage, the Marriage Service and certificate, as well as charges for services provided by St Hugh's Church Council.

About your wedding day

Pastoral Introduction to the Marriage Service from Common Worship (© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England 2000-2004)

A wedding is one of life's great moments, a time of solemn commitment as well as good wishes, feasting and joy. St John tells us how Jesus shared in such an occasion at Cana, and gave there a sign of new beginnings as he turned water into wine. 

Marriage is intended by God to be a creative relationship, as his blessing enables husband and wife to love and support each other in good times and in bad, and to share in the care and upbringing of children. For Christians, marriage is also an invitation to share life together in the spirit of Jesus Christ. It is based upon a solemn, public and life-long covenant between a man and a woman, declared and celebrated in the presence of God and before witnesses.

On this their wedding day the bride and bridegroom face each other, make their promises and receive God's blessing. You are witnesses of the marriage, and express your support by your presence and your prayers. Your support does not end today: the couple will value continued encouragement in the days and years ahead of them. 

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.     1 Corinthians 13.4-7

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
All of the official Common Worship publications are being published by Church House Publishing.

2. If either party is divorced, with a former marriage partner still living

The normal practice, subject to due consideration and consultation, is to offer a service of wedding blessing following a ceremony in a Register Office or other building licensed for civil marriages.

Qualifying Connections
Under the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008

The Qualifying Connections with a parish are:-

If the person:-

• was baptised in the parish (this does not apply where the baptism formed part of a combined service of baptism or confirmation); or,
• had his or her confirmation entered in a church register book of a church or chapel in the parish; or,
• has at any time had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least six months; or
• has at any time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least six months;

OR

A parent of that person has at any time during that person’s lifetime:-

• had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least six months; or
• habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least six months;

OR

• a parent or grandparent of that person was married in the parish.

Establishing a Qualifying Connection

The person wishing to establish the Qualifying Connection (“the applicant”) is responsible for establishing that he or she has the necessary Qualifying Connection and must provide such information, written or otherwise, to the satisfaction of person with the statutory responsibility for deciding the matter.  This must be done before the marriage can be allowed to take place.

The minister of the parish where the marriage is to be solemnised has the statutory responsibility for assessing whether the applicant has a Qualifying Connection with the parish concerned.  The minister must satisfy him of this before allowing the marriage to take place.

Depending on his personal knowledge of the applicant, the minister may require some or all of the information to be given in the form of a statutory declaration – this should not be asked for as a matter of course but only used in certain types of cases, for example:

• where the applicant has provided some, but not sufficient, information to demonstrate completely the Qualifying Connection – eg habitual residence of at least six months of him/herself or of a parent
• part or all of the information in support of the Qualifying Connection consists of a statement from a person who cannot be regarded as independent from the applicant

If the minister is in doubt as to whether to ask for a then he or she should consult the diocesan registrar. 

The applicant is responsible for arranging and obtaining the statutory declaration and any fees involved.  The minister should make clear what the statutory declaration is to state or confirm.

The Church of England's has excellent on line resourses for weddings.  For more information just follow the link:  https://churchsupporthub.org/weddings/