Weddings

St. Barts is a wonderful place for a wedding and we enjoy celebrating them. But in the Church of England there are rules about who can get married where. It is not possible just to take a liking to a particular church and get married in it, unless you have a connection with it.

So the first step is to establish whether you are qualified to get married here.

These are the rules, as updated by the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008.

Qualifying to Marry

Rules about connection to the parish

You can get married in the parish church where you or your fiancé(e) live. (See 'Our Parish' right, to find out if your street is in St. Bart's parish). We shall need evidence of your address, in the form of a utility bill addressed to you.

You can get married in the parish church whose electoral roll you are on, even if you do not live in that parish. To have your name entered on a church's electoral roll, you need to attend that church on a regular basis for at least 6 months.

You can get married in a parish church with which you have a Qualifying Connection. 

A person has a Qualifying Connection with a parish if any of these conditions apply:

• they were baptised in the parish
• they were confirmed in the parish
• they had at any time their usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months
• a parent of that person has at any time during that person's life had their usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months, or habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months.
• a parent or grandparent of that person was married in the parish

If you wish to seek marriage at St. Bart's through a Qualifying Connection, we shall need to see evidence of that.

Rules about previous marriages

Secondly, we need to know whether either of you has been married before. The Church's teaching is that marriage is entered into with the intention that it be lifelong. But we recognise that marriages do sometimes break down. It is now possible, in certain circumstances, to have a church wedding if you have been divorced, but this is subject to our having discussed your first marriage and come to a satisfactory conclusion. Please do not assume that agreement to marry a second time is always forthcoming. We shall need to see your Decree Absolute.

Nationality rules

Thirdly, we need to know what nationality you both are. If you are of British nationality, the marriage can take place after the traditional calling of banns. This is when your intention to marry is announced at the main Sunday service on three occasions, in this parish, and where your fiancé(e) lives, if different. We need to see your passport as evidence of this.

If one or both of you is a not a British citizen, you will need to obtain a Common Licence. This involves your swearing an affidavit before a priest specially commissioned for the purpose (a Bishop's Surrogate). You swear that the facts you are alleging about yourself and your freedom to get married are true. This raises the level of evidence such that, if the information is subsequently shown to be untrue, you will have committed perjury. A Common Licence takes the place of calling banns, and is intended to ensure that your marriage is recognised internationally

Age

The minimum legal age for marriage is 18 (or 16 with written parental permission). NB: Whether it is advisable to get marriage at 18 is another matter!

Preparation

If you believe you qualify to marry at St. Bart's according to the above rules, please get in touch with us as described under 'Preparatory meetings' below. We will need to consider these things as we organise your wedding.

Choosing a date

A marriage may take place legally on any day of the week, between 8.00am and 6.00pm. This does not mean you can get married on any day you like; it is subject to our mutual agreement. Weddings do not take place at St. Bart's during Holy Week (from the Saturday one week before Easter up to and including the Saturday before Easter).

Notice

We do not rush into arranging marriages. The Bishop has asked that no marriages should take place with less than three months' notice. This is to allow plenty of time to go through the preliminaries mentioned above and to give appropriate preparation.

Preparatory meetings

To start planning with us, either come to Office Hour at the church on Saturday mornings between 10 and 11am, or ring 020 8778 5290 for an appointment.

At that first meeting we will talk through what is necessary in your case and give a date for the wedding, if we are satisfied that it is the right thing to do.

About three months before the due date, we meet again, either to arrange the banns or the licence, as appropriate.

About the same time, you will be invited to a Marriage Preparation Session, usually on a Saturday morning, in the company of other couples also preparing for marriage.

Finally, we meet again for a rehearsal/final preparation in the week before the marriage.

Fees

The Church of England has decided the following fees, applicable from 1 January 2013:

At St. Bartholomew's the following fees are also payable:

* optional

** compulsory if anyone is using a camcorder

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Call the Rev Stephen Edmonds on 020 8676 8925