The church is fully open again for weddings and there are many details that you will want to know about, so these are set out below. As always, these can be discussed at any time with our vicar, Marcus.
We are glad you have chosen to begin by asking God’s blessing on your life together, and we wish you great happiness. This web page is designed to tell you about practical matters that you will need to know, and who to contact. There is also a lot of useful information on the Church of England website here.
Qualifications for marriage
Age: with effect from 27th February 2023 the Implementation of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 will raise the age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 in England and Wales to protect children from the scourge of forced marriage.
This means that 16 to 17-year-olds will no longer be able to marry or enter a civil partnership under any circumstances, including with parental or judicial consent from 26 February 2023. It will not be possible for anyone under 18 to marry or enter a civil partnership after this date.
Residence: normally one of you must live in the parish. If, however, one of you does not live in the parish but you meet one of seven other conditions (click here to see them) you may be married in our church.
Getting Married in a church other than St Mary’s.
If you live in the parish of Almeley and you wish to marry in another church you will need the Banns read in Almeley. To do this please complete a Banns application form obtainable from the vicar Marcus.
Getting married in St Mary’s church
You will need to complete a marriage application form to agree the provisional booking and we shall need you to bring your Birth Certificates (or photocopies) before the booking can be confirmed. For all enquiries about marriage you should contact our vicar Marcus.
Getting married in church after divorce
The Church of England teaches that marriage is for life. It also recognizes that some marriages sadly do fail and, if this should happen, it seeks to be available for all involved. The Church accepts that, in exceptional circumstances, a divorced person may marry again in church during the lifetime of a former spouse. If you are thinking about asking to be married in church, you should discuss this with Marcus our vicar Please do this well before choosing a date for your wedding. A helpful Church of England leaflet on this matter can be found here.
Banns
You will need either to have Banns published or to have a Licence (not both). Usually Banns are simpler and need to be called on 3 consecutive Sundays:
(a) in the Church in the benefice in which you are to be married; and
(b) in the Church of the parish in which the other partner lives, if not in this parish.
This must be within three months prior to your wedding. You will need to get the priest of the other parish to give a certificate saying they have been published – this is important and we cannot marry you without it. Please pass this certificate to our vicar, Marcus.
At St Mary’s Banns are called on three consecutive Sundays within the three months preceding your wedding. We will notify you when so you can come to the service, get a ‘feel’ for the church and what’s going on.
A Licence needs either the Bride or Groom to swear on oath that there is no impediment to their marriage and that residential qualifications exist. To obtain this, please discuss this with the vicar.
The wedding service
Traditionally, the bride and groom enter the church separately – the groom first with the best man, and the bride at the time set for the start of the service, on the arm of her father or another relative or friend (it does not need to be a man). However, the bride may enter alone if she wishes, or the couple may enter together.
The vicar will welcome the congregation. Your family and friends have an important role to play as witnesses and supporters of your marriage.
The vicar will read an introduction explaining what Christians believe about marriage. He will also ask, as the law requires, if anyone knows any reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place.
Declarations
You will be asked to promise before God, your friends and your families, that you will love, comfort, honour and protect your partner and be faithful to them as long as you both shall live.
The vicar will also ask the congregation to declare that they will support and uphold your marriage.
Vows
Turning to each other, the bride and groom take each other’s right hand and make vows.
Rings
The couple then exchanges a ring or rings as a ‘sign of their marriage’ and a reminder of the vows.
Proclamation
The vicar will then declare that you are now husband and wife. The vicar does not ‘marry you’; you marry each other. The vicar just directs you in this and then tells everyone that you have done it properly.
Prayers
In the prayers God’s blessing and help is asked for you. There may be a prayer for the gift of children, but every couple will have their own feelings about this, so it’s best to discuss the details with the vicar You may wish to help choose the prayers or to write your own.
Readings and talk or sermon
It is usual to have one or more readings (one of which should be from the Bible) and the vicar will generally give a talk or sermon.
Signing of the register
After you have exchanged your vows, the bride, groom and two witnesses must sign the register. This is a legal requirement and the vicar will give you a copy of the marriage certificate.
Video
St Mary’s holds a CCLI licence which permits you to video record weddings, although permission does not extend to any reception following a service, and it does not permit you to record music played from a pre-recorded source during the service, for example when taped music is played when the bride enters, or during the signing of the register.
CCLI advises caution when a professional videographer is involved, since we may not be able to ensure that the terms of our CCL are adhered to. Their advice is when using a professional photographer, to ask him to get the appropriate licence, which is a Limited Licence (more details and costs at the Performing Rights Society website) which allows almost everything including dubbing music and disco etc at reception. The cost depends on what you want to do but it can be as little as a few pounds ranging up to over £100 for 100 copies of more than 25 minutes of commercial music recorded.
Fees
These vary from year to year. There is a statutory fee determined by the Church of England, enshrined in law, plus further fees depending on whether you need a facility such as heating, organist, use of the sound system, and so on. Please consult the vicar about these, but for guidance the statutory fees for 2024 (without the local additions mentioned above) are here.
We need you to have paid the fees to St Mary’s Treasurer Shirley Tully (cheques made payable to ‘Almeley PCC’) at least two weeks before the date of the service or we will not be able to marry you.
Bells
We can offer bell ringing for your wedding. We have a ring of six, which will ring before and after your wedding. The fee for the ringers needs to be paid in cash at the rehearsal or on the day.
Please contact Sandra Payne (01544 340645) for further details.
Music
For your wedding service you will need to decide on:
. music to enter and leave the church;
. music during the signing of the register; and
. two or three hymns.
At Almeley we can offer organ, trumpet, choir and recorded music facilities.
You can of course provide your own musicians /singers etc. However if you provide your own organist the organist fee still has to be paid towards the maintenance of the organ.
St Mary’s has a hearing loop and the possibility of playing pre-recorded music into the service via the sound system.
Diane Brain is your contact for music. Please contact her well ahead of time i.e. as soon as possible.
Diane Brain: 01544 327396 or stuartbrainuk@btinternet.com
Flowers
For any enquiries about flowers in church for your wedding, even if you are having your own florist, you must contact Edna Hughes to be sure of the church’s regulations about flowers and arrangements. This needs to be done in plenty of time.
Edna Hughes 07776 916 840 or ednahughes01@gmail.com
Parking
As we are in a farming community there are often wide farming vehicles that need to travel along the village roads.
We have very little parking near the church. We ask, therefore, that you park considerately, especially on the road leading from the church to the old railway bridge.
There are some areas not far from the church where parking is easier, and we ask that you use these if possible, and have a slightly longer walk to the service. There is a map here which shows areas for parking, areas where there is no parking because the street is too narrow or is needed for large vehicles such as buses and tractors to turn, and residential streets where there is some parking, but please give consideration to the house owners’ access. Parking at The Bells Inn is by permission of the Landlord, Jason (01544 327 216, thebellsinn@yahoo.co.uk) or why not pay the pub a visit.
If you are expecting a good number of people we sometimes have a field close to the church available. This depends on the kindness of the farmer and whether the field is free. If you need the field please contact judy Hayes our churchwarden and she will give you a number to contact.
Confetti: we are perfectly happy for the use of bio-degradable confetti, but please no metal or other non bi-degradable materials.
Horse drawn carriages: for the safety of the horses we do not allow horses and carriages into the churchyard.
To discuss this further please contact the churchwarden.