Thinking About Getting Married At St Matthew’s!

 

We hope we might be able to make your special day even better!

 

Thank you for clicking here – we hope that everything that follows will be a help to you.

 

You will be delighted to know that some of the old rules restricting where you can get married have now been relaxed!

 

So…who can get married at St Matthew’s?

 

From October this year (2008), we will be able to marry couples in St Matthew’s where one of the following applies:

 

• one or both of you currently live in the parish, or have done for a period of six months or more during your life – view parish map
• you are members of the church electoral roll ( open to anyone who has attended our church regularly for a period of six months)
• if you have ever worshipped with us on a regular basis for a period of six months or more
• one or both of you were baptised or confirmed at St Matthew’s
• if any of your parents have ever lived in the parish for six months or more during your lifetime
• if any of your parents or grandparents were married at St Matthew’s

 

If you do not fit these categories, but feel there is an important pastoral reason for your wedding to take place in St Matthew’s this can be discussed too – but it is likely that a special licence would have to be obtained. We can help you through the paperwork involved.

 

The next thing to do is ring one of the clergy to discuss things more fully and hopefully book a date in the diary!

 

Do contact Fr Andrew or Rev Rosemary – phone 01737 761568 or 01737 769763.

 

How we would help to prepare you……..

 

We would arrange to meet you personally to fill in the application form and then nearer the date we would meet for a longer time together to discuss the meaning of the service and the words we’re going to use.

 

Our Director of Music, Martin Cooper, will also be pleased to meet you to look at all the possibilities for music and hymns and you might have some special readings or recorded music to include to. We’re very much open to this.

 

We can also arrange some more detailed marriage preparation sessions which look at different aspects of married life such as:

• expectations
• preparing to be parents
• communication
• becoming more involved in the life of the church.

 

These can be arranged personally with you to suit your needs.

 

Some other questions you might find helpful:

 

How much does a church wedding at St Matthew’s cost?

£450 would currently cover all the legal fees, practical costs, choir and organists fees etc.

 

What about if one of us has been previously married?

We would warmly welcome you to discuss this with us. Under most circumstances it will be perfectly fine for us to conduct your wedding.

 

What if neither of us has been Christened?

People tend to think this might prevent a church wedding, but this is not the case. If you fit any of the criteria above – there is not problem. However, lots of adults get christened these days and it might be that with a church wedding approaching, you’d like to think about this with us.

 

What if one or both of us are not British citizens?

If you are the holder of an EU passport there is normally no difficulty. If you have just a work permit or “leave to remain” there will be some additional administrative procedures to go through which will involve the production of a Home Office certificate and eventually a Superintendent’s certificate. These procedures can take a lot of time, but we can help you on the first step.

 

Would we be expected to attend church before our wedding?

It would be great to welcome you to our worship on any Sunday at 10am. If you’re going to be married at St Matthew’s, it’s good to get to know us and have a feel for the building and its atmosphere. So come when you’d like to, but there are no hard and fast rules.