We love having weddings here at St James’s Church, and do our best to make your day special and memorable.

Setting the date
As soon as you have a date in mind, please contact the Rector to check availability of the date and confirm that you have a Qualifying Connection. Weddings can happen on any day of the week, although for logistical reasons we don’t have them on Sundays here. The Rector will provide you with a booking form, and once that has been returned, your date is secure.

What if I and/or my partner are divorced?
It’s always sad when a marriage ends, but the Rector does normally marry people who have been previously married.  However, she does need to have a conversation with you both, before she can accept your booking. Please contact her.

Putting together the service
The Rector will work with you to choose music, hymns and readings, both the necessary Bible reading and a poem or a passage from a book. If you are having an Order of Service, she will provide the text for you. As part of this, you’ll be able to talk about what marriage means to you.

How much does it cost?
There are two elements to the fees. Basic wedding fees are set nationally by the Church of England each November for the following year, so note that for 2016 onwards, you should expect an increase around the rate of inflation.

For 2016 they are
Publication of Banns    £   27
Marriage Service           £ 442

We also charge fees (2016) for
Organist                            £  70
Bells                                   £ 120
Church Hall                     £  20 (useful if you have guests travelling from a long way away who might be glad of a cuppa before the service)

Organist, Bells and Church Hall hire are all optional, and different churches will charge different rates for them. We review our rates annually, so if you book for a later year, these fees may change.

What is marriage?
A wedding is one of life’s great moments, a time of solemn commitment as well as good wishes, feasting and joy. St John tells us how Jesus shared in such an occasion at Cana, and gave there a sign of new beginnings as he turned water into wine.

Marriage is intended by God to be a creative relationship, as his blessing enables husband and wife to love and support each other in good times and in bad, and to share in the care and upbringing of children. For Christians, marriage is also an invitation to share life together in the spirit of Jesus Christ. It is based upon a solemn, public and life-long covenant between a man and a woman, declared and celebrated in the presence of God and before witnesses.

On this their wedding day the bride and bridegroom face each other, make their promises and receive God’s blessing. Witnesses of the marriage express support by their presence and their prayers. .
At this point in time, the Rector deeply regrets she is not permitted to marry same sex couples.