Welcome To Our Marriage

 

Bells

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Congratulations on your decision to get married.

And you are interested in getting married in one of our beautiful churches?  

Whether you are a regular member of one of our churches, an infequent visitor to our services or someone who has traced their family roots back to these vilages and now want to return you are most welcome.  There are one or two things that you will need to know and to do.  

First you should contact the Nicola Gilbert the Benefice Exectutive Adminstrator who co-ordinates the weddings in this benefice (Group of Parishes), and arrange to discuss a date and venue with him.  

You can contact her at:

Three Valleys Team Benefice Office

Jubilee Hall

Church Street

Yetminster

DT9 6LG

Tel: 01935 872600

or 01935 873044
e-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Other members of the team can help but Richard is the normally first point of contact.
 
To be married in a Church of England parish church at least one of the couple must be Baptised (Christened) and you will need to show a connection with that parish. The main connection is that you live in the parish but the church will also recognise as a connection that your parents, grandparents, or close family live or have lived in the parish.  So for instance if your parents were married in the church but have subsequently moved away this could be seen as establishing a connection. Similarly if you have number of ancestors or relatives buried in the churchyard this might also be considered as establishing a connection.
 
If a connection cannot be estblished there may be ways around the problem and the clergy will be happy to discuss options with you.
 
We recognise that some groups of people such as members of the military do have difficulty identifying where their home is and we will do our best to help in such cases.
 
The church no longer automatically bars divorced people from gettting married.   So if you are divorced and would like to consider a church wedding it is worth discussing this with one of the clergy team.  We do try to be helpful.
 
Because of the new immigration laws we are required to establish that you are entitled to live in the UK so we will ask to see your passport or other identifying document. Foreign nationals will need to get a supporting document from a district registras' office.
 
Probationery period
 
Your Service
 
We will be happy to give advice on the construction of your service, the choice of music, hymns and readings.  There is a set format that is used in the Church of England but within that we are prepared to be flexible.  So for instance if you have a favourite poem or secular passage you would like read that can be included and most churches can handle music on CDs if that is your wish.  Please remember that a marriage in church is a Christian ceremony and the service will reflect that.  There will be prayers a Bible reading and a Christian blessing.   If you are a member of another relgion, provided your partner to be is Baptised (Christened), that will not be a bar to getting married in church nor will we try to pressure you into converting.  However, we will want to take time to explain what we believe we are doing.  There will be a requirement to attend several wedding preparation sessions. These will either be individually with a member of the clergy or in a group.
 
Please follow this link for more information:  https://www.yourchurchwedding.org/
 
 
Costs
 
One of the first things people always ask is the cost of getting married.  In fact a church wedding is likely to be the least expensive part of your day.
 
The cost of the wedding ceremony is £415.00 *
Publication of Banns £27.00* in each church they are published.  Banns willl need to be published in the church you intend to be married and your home parish church or churches if they are not the same one. You willlneed to obtain a certificate of Publication of Banns from the churches of the parish you reside in and they cost £13.00* 
 
*Prices correct at the time of writing.
 
You will need to decide what you want to do about flowers, organist and bell ringers.  We will be happy to give you advice on these matters and we do hold names of the people who can help but the responsibility will be yours to contact them to organise what you would like and agree a fee.  Organists usually cost around £75.00, Bell Ringers vary but do not normally exceed this.  Flowers are very much up to you as to what you spend.
 
When you arrange a date for your wedding you will be asked to pay a £50.00 deposit. This deposit will be subtracted from the final church wedding costs but in the event of a cancellation is kept to cover administration and is non-returnable.  You will be expected to pay the balance of the fees 30 days before the wedding.
 
 
We look forward to meeting you and helping to make this a truly great day to remember.
 fJust Married
Download a Wedding Application form:       Wedding_Application_Form2021.pdf
 
 
The Three Valleys Team