weddings

There is a whole team of people ready and waiting to welcome, help and work with you to prepare your marriage in church.

Organist and choir, bell ringers, flower arrangers, clergy and cleaners. By making sure everything goes off without a hitch, we are all dedicated to making your wedding day as good as it possibly can be.

We do hope you will be in touch with us and that you will want to make your marriage vows together in one of our churches in front of your family and friends and most importantly in the presence of God.

The Church of England has produced a really helpful and informative Weddings website, which we think you will enjoy and probably want to visit. Please click on the picture below:

Filling in the Banns of Marriage Application Form

In order to be married there is a legal process which has to be carefully followed. Normally this involves the calling of Banns during the main service at the Parish Church of the parish in which each of you live. It is your responsibility to see that the Banns of Marriage are called in the other parish if one of you lives in a parish outside the Beaminster Team area. After the bans have been called in the other parish the vicar will give you a Banns Certificate upon payment of the appropriate fee and this must be presented to the Rector in order for you to be married.

Preparing for the Service

Because marriage is a legal ceremony as well as everything else, much of the service is in a fixed form. In order to make the service reflect your tastes and style as much as possible there are some choices you can make and these are:

1. The reading
2. The prayers
3. The hymns
4. The music coming in and going out of church
5. Whether one or both of you will give and receive a ring

Orders of Service

There is no need to have an Order of Service if you do not want to, as we can provide hymn books in the church. However, if you do wish to have a specially printed Order of Service, we will be glad to help you set it out.

The Music

Music is important at all happy occasions. There are usually three hymns in the wedding service. The first and last should be lively and louder. The second hymn is sung in place of a psalm and a quieter and more thoughtful hymn is better. If you cannot think of any hymns, ask around the family for their favourites. Alternatively, please ask the Rector for suggestions. You can choose the organ music for the coming in and going out of the church, however it is important to select pieces that are appropriate and that can be played on the particular organ at the church in which you are being married. The Rector will help you with this.

The Rehearsal

So that everyone knows what will happen at the wedding, we will have a rehearsal at a convenient time in the week before. Only the following people should be present:

Bride and Groom

Fees

Please have a look at the Fees page of the Church of England Weddings website (http://www.yourchurchwedding.org/your-wedding/the-cost-of-church-weddings.aspx), which mentions the legal fees. Other fees - for organ, choir, bells, etc - can be explained by the Team Clergy."

We hope the above will be helpful in making your wedding day a most enjoyable and memorable event in your life. If you have any further questions you will like answered please do not hesitate to make contact with us.