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GETTING MARRIED AT CLAINES
We are delighted that you may be considering being married in Claines Church. You will probably have many questions to ask about the process of arranging your wedding with us. This page is meant to help explain the process and answer some of your questions. We also hold Marriage Preparation days when you can meet Clergy and other couples to help you with your planning.
Read the full text below, or click on specific questions:
WHAT LEGAL QUESTIONS ARE THERE?
WHAT ABOUT ARRANGING THE SERVICE?
You will need to talk to the Clergy who will advise you about whether you legally can be married in Claines. They can also advise you of dates which are available. You can speak to the clergy after any service OR contact them by telephone, details are show below.
WHAT LEGAL QUESTIONS ARE THERE?
Marriage is a legal institution and therefore marriage law must be maintained.
Here are some of the main legal questions which face couples seeking to be married in Claines Church.
A. Is there any legal reason why we might not be able to marry each other?
If you are related to each other you might need to consider this question. For advice contact one of the clergy.
B Can we marry in church if one of us is divorced?
You need to discuss this with the clergy, but if a former marriage has been dissolved it may still be possible to marry in church.
C Can we marry in Claines church?
From the 1st October there will be some important changes regarding who can get married at Claines Church. These remove some of the former restrictions:
The changes will mean an engaged couple are welcome to be married in church in a parish if just one of these applies:
D. Do we need to obtain a Licence to get married?
Under normal circumstances this will not be necessary. You will need to obtain a banns certificate from the parish in which you or your partner live (if it is not Claines Parish)—this is a legal requirement in most cases.
If you have legal questions which have not been answered by the information above you should ensure that you speak to a member of the Clergy at the earliest possible opportunity.
When you have agreed with the Clergy on a date and time for your Wedding Ceremony you will be asked to complete a form and return it. This form acts as confirmation of the arrangements you have made and must be returned within one month. If it is not returned within that time, the date and time which you have booked may be offered to other couples.
HOW MUCH DOES IT ALL COST?
The cost of the wedding in church depends on what you would like to have: choir, bells, organist etc. (As a rough guide in 2007 the cost of a wedding in church can vary between £390 and £660).
You will be sent a detailed costing sheet in January of the year you are getting married. When you receive this please check that the information regarding your booking is correct, complete the sheet, showing what you would like the church to provide for you and return it to the Parish Clerk.
Payment is requested in two forms: TWO MONTHS before the wedding a cheque for the amount outlined on the form should be sent to the Clergy (ALL CHEQUES PAYABLE TO ‘Claines PCC’).
ONE WEEK before the wedding cash should be given to the Clergy.
If you want one or more floral arrangements in church for your wedding please speak to Pat Harris who runs our Flower Guild. She will be pleased to meet your specific requirements and in the eventuality of a number of weddings on the day of your wedding, will liaise between the couples.
Payments for flowers should be made directly to Pat Harris. Unfortunately it is not possible for other florists to arrange the flowers within Claines Church.
Pat Harris can be contacted in Church each Sunday evening after the evening service.
Alternatively she can be contacted by telephone on: 01905 451305.
WHAT ABOUT ARRANGING THE SERVICE?
We encourage couples to think carefully about their wedding service and to make choices about who should be involved in the service, what should be read in it and what music should be played or sung in it.
With the costing sheet which you receive in January, you will be invited to contact the clergy to arrange a meeting, so that you can talk through the arrangements for your Wedding Service. In that meeting you will have the opportunity to express preferences for music, hymns, readings etc. at your service. It is important that this meeting should be held between three and six months before the wedding is due to take place. During this meeting we will arrange a time for a rehearsal of your wedding service – often this will be on the Sunday evening before the wedding, after the Evening Service.
Your banns of marriage must be read in your parishes of residence and in Claines Parish. They should be read no more than three months before the wedding. It is YOUR responsibility to arrange for the reading of the banns in other parishes, and to collect from them a certificate of Banns which should be presented to us at the wedding rehearsal.
Your wedding day is a most important day for you and for your whole family. If you have questions about any aspect of your wedding please contact one of the people named below – we will be only too pleased to help you in any way possible.
We’re delighted that you’re planning to get married at Claines. As part of the preparation for your wedding we’d like to invite you, as a couple, to a marriage preparation day. During the day there will be the opportunity not only to think about your wedding, but also about your relationship and about marriage and what it means to be married.
There will be the chance to explore together what you know about each other and one another’s families, your expectations of marriage and how you see your roles and responsibilities, your future goals and aims, and your moral and spiritual values.
There will also be the opportunity to talk about other issues which are of importance to you.
And of course you will be able to meet other couples and swap stories about this busy and exciting time in your lives. Then at the end of the day we will move across to the church and talk you through the wedding service itself.
Lunch and other refreshments will be provided and we hope that the day will be an informal, relaxed and enjoyable occasion for everyone. Contact us as below for details of the next available day
Vicar: Revd Stephen Agnew 01905 754772 revsmagnew@yahoo.com
Curate: Revd Olwen Woolcock 01905 758743 olwen@woolcock.org
