A church wedding is a great way for a couple to express their life-long commitment to each other. We will do our best to make your wedding a wonderful, spiritual, experience for you and your family and friends.

To book a wedding with us, at either St Anne’s or our sister churches St Mary’s or St Winifred’s, please contact the vicar Reverend Dave Gough on 01909 570434 to book an appointment for a Wednesday evening between 6pm and 7pm. To reserve a particular date we ask for a deposit of £100. When you make your booking Rev Dave will explain what happens in more detail, but briefly this will include the following. Sometime early in the year of your wedding you will be invited to an evening with other couples to discuss what marriage is about and what the importance of marrying in church means. Then a few months prior to your wedding date Rev Dave will contact you to arrange a meeting with you to discuss the details of your particular big day. This will enable you to meet him before you get married, it will give you an opportunity to explore with him what makes for a strong and lasting marriage, and also to plan the details of your wedding service. We look forward to hearing from you, but in the meantime here are the answers to some common questions:

Who can get married at St Anne’s, St Mary’s or St Winifred’s? If  neither of you has been married before (see below if you have previously been in a married relationship) and at least one of you lives in the parish or meets one of the other ‘qualifying connections’ then we will be able  to take your booking.  If you are unsure whether you live in the parish please  check by visiting ‘A Church Near You’ and clicking ‘find us’. If you don’t currently live in the parish, and you’re not already on our Electoral Roll (membership list), then you can still get married with us if you can show: That one of you can answer ‘yes’ to one of the following criteria:

• has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months
• was baptised in the parish
• was prepared for confirmation in the parish
• has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months

OR that one of your parents, at any time after you were born:

• has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
• has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months

OR that one of your parents or grandparents:

• was married in the parish

If none of these things are the case, don’t worry! You can still get married with us, but you’ll need to attend our services for a period of 6 months (so you can go on our Electoral Roll). We will usually take a provisional booking once you have attended for about 3 months. We ask you to normally attend at least once a month.

Do you remarry divorcees? We want everyone who wants to, to be able to have their marriage service in church and we are very happy and open to talk to you  about the possibility of remarrying in church and do not want to place barriers in the way. However, our Vicar Rev Dave will want to discuss with you what is different about this new marriage, and lessons learned from your previous marriage as well as the reasons for the previous marriage being dissolved. Therefore it is helpful to first of all contact him on 01909 570434 to discuss this as soon as you begin to think about marrying in church.

What are banns? Banns are the legal method by which we  acquire the license to perform your wedding. Banns have to be read both in the parish church you will be getting married in and if one of you lives in another parish then they will need to also be read in that parish as well. It is your responsibility to arrange to have your banns read in the other parish, although we will give you guidance and help in this regard. It is worth contacting them well ahead of your wedding date to ensure that they are read. The other parish will also need to charge you, for providing a certificate to prove that the banns have been read. The banns are read over a period of three weeks at each weekly service consecutively and typically six weeks before the wedding is due to take place and we encourage you to come along to at least one of those services at the church to hear the reading of your banns. To find out which parish you live in, please visit A Church Near You, which includes a postcode finder (the link will open in a new window).

The service We normally conduct weddings on a Saturday but we are very flexible to meet your needs as we understand the difficulties in booking receptions, etc. You are asked to choose two hymns to be sung during the service and we will also talk to you about music as part of our wedding preparation sessions and will provide you with a list of frequently requested hymns. Except during Lent and Advent there will be some flowers in church, but you are welcome to provide additional flowers but all of this can be discussed and amended to your liking as best we can.

What is the cost? The amount you will pay varies a bit  depending on exactly what you choose.  The fee is currently in the region of £600 but there are additional costs if you require a video to be taken at the service or would want the bells to be rung at either St Anne’s or St Mary’s. These do sometimes increase slightly from year to year but this will discussed with you when you book your wedding.

Do you do wedding blessings? We are very happy to carry out wedding blessings, where the couple repeat their wedding vows. Increasingly, people choose to get married abroad, and a wedding blessing is a good way of allowing friends and family to celebrate the wedding, once the couple have returned from their honeymoon. Wedding blessings are also a good way of celebrating significant anniversaries. Again, please contact Rev Dave on 01909 570434 to find out more details.

How can I find out more information? Please visit the Church of England’s wedding website (the link will open in a new window) or for frequently asked questions click here.