Weddings & Marriage Blessings

If you’ve arrived at this page because you are recently engaged, are celebrating a significant anniversary or have recently entered a marriage or civil-partnership, congratulations!

To discuss planning a wedding, arranging the blessing of a recent marriage or civil-partnership, or celebrating a significant anniversary please contact us.

We’ve prepared a short guide for wedding services at St Peter’s, including the shape of the service and costs involved, which can be found here.

Who can marry at St Peter’s?

Weddings at St Peter’s are open to any couple that has a legal right to marry at St Peter’s. There are a very small number of exemptions but you qualify immediately for this right if the bride or groom has lived in the parish at any time for a period of six months or currently lives in the parish, has worshipped regularly at St Peter’s for a period of six months at any time, or was baptised or confirmed at St Peter’s. You also have the right to marry at St Peter’s if at any time a parent of the bride or groom has lived in the parish or worshipped at St Peter’s for six months during the bride or groom’s lifetime, or a parent or grandparent was married at St Peter’s.

All couples marrying at St Peter’s are asked to join our marriage preparation programme, which consists of three informal sessions at times convenient to you in the run up to the wedding and a meal together with couples marrying in St Peter’s this year, have been recently married at St Peter’s or have been together rather longer!

What if we’d love to get St Peter’s but don’t currently qualify? 

Don’t worry! By attending a service at St Peter’s regularly (at least fornightly) for six months you can develop a qualifying connection, and subject to satisfying the other legal conditions that enable you to marry, and then earn the right to marry at St Peter’s.

What if we’ve been married before?

If you’ve been married before, and meet other qualifying connections, you’re able to get married at St Peter’s. There are very small number of exemptions, and a small number of additional requirements in terms of establishing the right to marry at St Peter’s. Please do contact Fr Simon to talk further.

What if one of us is not a UK national?

Whilst the vast majority of couples who marry at St Peter’s establish the legal right to marry through a process known as ‘the reading of banns’, if you or your partner are not a UK national or have settled, or pre-settled status, you will need to apply for a Superintendent Registrar’s Marriage Schedule. This is a legal document that establishes your right to marry. There is more information on this process here and we are always to help couples with a right to marry at St Peter’s make sure all of the legal paperwork is in place! Do contact us for more information and assistance.

What if we’re LGBT or a same sex couple?

Whilst we are very sorry that we are not yet legally permitted to marry same-sex couples, we are delighted that we are able to offer services of prayer and blessing to celebrate a civil marriage of couples of the same sex. If you would like to explore and shape one of our existing services to celebrate your special day, please contact Fr Simon. These services are similar to services of blessing that take place after a civil marriage within the framework of an existing service, but hymns, music, and readings can be shaped to enable the service to be a celebration of your relationship and a sign of God’s love for you.

Same-sex couples intending to marry are more than welcome to join our marriage preparation programme, and our church council has recently affirmed it’s hope that we will be able to celebrate same-sex marriages in Church as soon as possible.

If you would like a Christian wedding, Fr Simon would be happy to explore with you possibilities for Christian churches locally who do celebrate weddings of same-sex couples, please do get in touch.

Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, whatever your story, there’s a place for you at St Peter’s. Welcome home.

 

 

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