Marriage

'God is love, and those who live in love,
God lives in them'
1 John 4.16

Marriage

Holy Matrimony is one of life’s most important and special occasions, and St Michael’s is a beautiful church to get married in.

You can get married at St Michael’s if it is your parish church, the church where you regularly worship, or a church with which you have a significant connection. To find out if you live in the parish please look at the website www.achurchnearyou.com. For information about qualifying connections please see the Church of England’s website: www.yourchurchwedding.org.

To prepare you for your marriage, the officiating priest will arrange to meet you a number of times to help you through planning the service and reflecting on its meaning.

Marriage is a lifelong union of two people, nevertheless, the Church recognises that there are circumstances in which marriages come to an end, and has pastoral discretion that, in some circumstances, enables remarriage in church. A service of blessing after a civil marriage is possible in virtually all circumstances.

Banns

The vast majority of people are married by what are known as Banns, when your intention to wed is announced in public at the main act of worship on three occasions. It is necessary for banns to be called for a marriage to take place legally, but it is also an opportunity for the church community to pray for you, and many couples enjoy coming to church to hear their banns being read.

Please contact the parish office with plenty of notice and note that banns may have to be read in more than one church.

Services after Civil Marriages and Civil Partnerships

St Michael’s is always happy to offer a service of Blessing after a Civil Marriage. As an expressly inclusive church we also welcome requests for special services following civil marriages and partnerships of same-sex couples. As with weddings, we would expect requests to come from couples either living in the parish, who are already regular worshippers, or have a particular connection. However, exceptions can be made where appropriate.

Stay Connected

Subscribe to our church newsletter