So, if you are looking at this page – Congratulations! (We guess you’re reading it because you’re thinking about getting married)
IMPORTANT. ST JUDE’S VICAR RETIRED IN JANUARY 2025 AND THERE WILL NOT BE ANYONE ABLE TO OVERSEE A WEDDING AT ST JUDE’S UNTIL A NEW VICAR IS APPOINTED. IF THIS AFFECTS YOU, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US BEFORE MAKING ANY PLANS TO FIND OUT WHETHER ONE HAS BEEN APPOINTED.
If you are just wanting Banns of Marriage, please do just Contact Us.
There have been changes to the Law from the 26 March 2021 that will affect how Marriages are registered from the 4 May 2021 onwards. This now means there will be a need to create a Marriage Document prior to the date of a Wedding. (If either of the couple are non-UK nationals, it may be necessary to check with the local Registrar who would then be the person who would issue the Marriage Document for later completion at your wedding)
Churches will no longer complete the formal Register for a Marriage, though there will still be an informal Register kept by the Church for their own records. This now means that the Church will no longer issue the legal Marriage Certificates either, as the completed Marriage Document must be returned to the Register Office for the registration to take place in the UK’s Electronic Marriage Register before a certificate can be issued.
Weddings in churches of the Church of England are covered by the law of the land and the local clergy operate as ‘Clerks in Holy Orders’ which gives them authority to marry folk under certain controlled circumstances.
An early step you’ll need to take if you want to get married at St. Jude’s is to contact the Vicar, to arrange to meet for an initial discussion and obtain an application form. (use the ‘Contact Us’ page of our website) Before you do that, please take the time to read the information below to see if you are eligible to be married at the Church as again, the law only allows a Church to marry a couple if they fulfil at least one of the qualifying criteria below. The Vicar will need to see certain formal documents at that meeting too that will affirm both your identity and whichever qualifying connection you have to the parish.
Therefore, on the qualifying connections, you have a right to marry under Banns (Churches involved read out your names in Church over three Sundays to make sure you meet the criteria below, in the hope that someone who may know you would confirm any irregularities – such as you’re married already etc!) in your local parish church if:
• You are both over 18 (or over 16 with parental permission)
• One of you has a qualifying connection (see below for what they are) with the Church and the Church’s geographic parish boundary. (If you want to check which Church of England Church parish you live in now, or have lived in, and know the postcode, follow this link to check.)
• Neither of you has been married before. If one of you has and is now divorced, there is no right to re-marriage, it is at the sole discretion of the minister. If this applies to you then we need to have a conversation about the circumstances of the divorce to see if re-marriage is possible at St Jude’s Church.
You can marry in a Church of England church of your choice, subject to the conditions above, if you can prove one or more of the following qualifying connections:
1. You were baptised in the church.
2. You were confirmed in or from the church.
3. A Parent or Grandparent of yours was married in the church.
4. You have had your usual place of residence in the parish of the church for at least 6 months.
5. Your Parent has had their usual place of residence within the parish of the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
6. You have habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months.
8. Your Parent has habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
If you are thinking about getting married in Church, but you don’t go to one – why not come along and spend some time with us to find out why St Jude’s a great place to be part of? We have discovered a very real relationship that’s available with God through Jesus, with lives filled with hope and purpose that we believe can help you in your new relationship too. You will find St Jude’s is a very welcoming community of people and our services may be far more helpful and engaging than you might imagine. We’re not at all stuffy or ‘churchy’, and very keen on encouraging family.
Fees for weddings are set by the Church of England nationally. If you are marrying at the Church in whose parish you both live and only one set of banns need to be called, then the cost for a basic wedding can be calculated from the following:
The standard CofE fee for the building and service (for 2024) is £531. St Jude’s also asks for £25 for a member of staff to open and close the church and run the sound desk etc and an additional £36 is a statutory fee to read Banns before the wedding.
Should the wedding be at a time that needs heating, we ask a further £140 for heating – its a very large space to heat from cold and energy prices have more than doubled – sadly Churches don’t benefit from price caps!
There could also be extra charges for things such as a keyboard player (St Jude’s does not have an organ) if available/needed. If one or both of you live outside the parish boundaries the cost may rise a little as Banns will also need to be called in those parishes too, at a cost for each parish either of the couple may live in, of £36 plus £18 for the certificate that parish needs to provide to us as proof they have been read without objection. This is only a guide and we can give you further details when we meet and the actual fees will always be those in force the year you marry, not when a wedding is booked.
If you want to know more about this or any of the things mentioned here, please initially contact the Vicar before you book anything to make sure a marriage is possible on the dates you prefer in St Jude’s Church. Even if you qualify to get married in St Jude’s Church, it may not be possible to hold a wedding on a particular date or time – therefore it is crucial you do not book any other venues until you check with us that the date you require is available in the Church.
If you wanted to look at some general ideas about a service, hymn selections etc, why not try the Church of England’s ceremony planning web site. (The site is really helpful and gives some ideas on planning your service, but the actual service at St Jude’s might be in a different order to the way the site shows its results – so please don’t get anything printed until you speak with the Vicar!)