GETTING MARRIED

IN THE SHILL VALLEY WITH BROADSHIRE

BENEFICE

Wedding Guidelines for couples

Congratulations on your engagement! We are very pleased that you want to get married. We have written these notes to explain what the process of getting married in church entails and to make sure that you don’t forget anything.

Banns

To get married in church you will each need a certificate of banns. This is to ensure that you may get married legally - that you are not already married, are brother and sister, etc. This involves a declaration being read out in church to the effect that you intend to get married and if anyone knows a reason why should not be allowed to, they must declare it. The banns must be read in the parish churches where each of you live and in the church where you are due to be married. This is up to you to arrange with your local vicar. You should go to the Anglican (Church of England) church which is nearest to wherever you are each living, and arrange to have the banns read in both places. The banns will be read out on three consecutive Sundays within three months of your wedding. If your banns are read in a church other than one in which you are getting married, you must get a banns certificate from the vicar who has read them and send it to us to prove he or she has read them. He or she will charge a fee for this. So long as no-one comes up with a valid objection, you are free to be married. We will write to you and let you know at which services the banns will be read; we’d love you to come to church to hear them.

The Service

The service we normally use is usually the standard Anglican marriage service which is found in the Common Worship Book. The service takes about 45 minutes, including the signing of the marriage registers. You can choose several hymns and we can help you to choose them but suggest that you stick with well known ones so that most people will know them. The service also includes a reading from the Bible, and we can make suggestions for this. There will be a rehearsal of the service, usually a day or two before the wedding. It is all very straightforward and the minister will talk you through it on the day. A suggested running order is as follows:

Entrance of the Bride

Welcome

Hymn

Marriage Ceremony

Hymn

Bible Reading

Additional Reading (optional)

Address

Hymn

Prayers and Blessing

Signing of the Register

Procession of the Bride and Groom

Music

We will put you in touch with the organist, who will help you to choose music for the processions at the beginning and end of the service and during the signing of the registers. The fee for the organist is negotiable, usually upwards of £85 and paid separately, direct to the organist.

Bells

There are bells available at St. Peter’s, Alvescot, which can be arranged with the Tower Captain, Reg Messer on 01993 841259. The bells for St Matthew’s, Langford can be arranged through Sharron Emery and her e mail address is . The other churches don’t have the facility to support this.

Flowers

It is up to you to decide whether you would like to employ a professional florist or to decorate the church yourselves. It is often possible for our church flower-arrangers to help you with this.

Confetti

Please note that we only allow natural flower petals as confetti and we would be grateful if you would inform your guests accordingly.

Photographs

The photographs are an important part of the day, but, unless you are careful, the photographer can take over. We allow photographs to be taken at the door, during the signing of the register and as you walk down the aisle at the end. We ask others to refrain from taking photographs during the service to avoid distraction. We also discourage the use of videos. Please ask your photographer to arrive early and check with the minister before the service.

Marriage preparation

St. John the Baptist,Burford,hold one day marriage preparation courses at College Farm inFilkins and we have had very positive feedback about this. If you would like to attend a course, please contact Charles and Sue Hunter Smart on 01367 850258

Fees

These fees are set annually by the Church of England and are revised every year on 1st January.

Wedding 2017

Publication of banns of marriage / 28.00
Marriage service / 424.00
Marriage certificate / 4.00
Total / 456.00

Service of Blessing following Civil Marriage

Service / 424.00
Total / 424.00

There is an additional charge of between £20 and £80 per day for church heating during the months of October to May, depending on which church you are getting married in.

Furthermore, a fee of £40 is payableto the Vergerwho ensures that the church is open for rehearsals and the wedding day; and helps to prepare the Church for the wedding.This should be paid directly to them either at the rehearsal or on the day.

An invoice will be sent approximately 3 months in advance of the wedding. Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Shill Valley and Broadshire Benefice’.

If you wish to offer a donation to the church, please let us know as these may be gift-aided.

Forms and ID

Please fill in the attached forms and return to Trish Chadwick, Benefice Administrator, within one month. However, if you are divorced please speak to the Rector first (contact details at end of form).

All couples need to provide proof of their names, ages, addresses and nationality. Normally this would be a valid passport or birth certificate and a council tax bill or driving licence. These can be scanned and sent with your booking form*. Once we have received your form and IDs, we will be able to confirm your eligibility to be married in the parishes. We will then put you in contact with the minister taking the service. If you have any queries with your form, please leave it blank and the clergy will discuss this with you.

For Black Bourton please return to Richard Betteridge –

*The information we hold about you will be used to ensure that the legal requirements relating to your marriage are complied with and to make arrangements for the wedding ceremony. The information will be held securely and shared only with those who need access to it for those purposes. The parish Data Protection Officer is Harry MacInnes.

WEDDING BOOKING FORM

Please return within one month

Date of proposed wedding…………………………………………………time………………………….....

Church…………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

Groom's full name...... …......

Have you always been known by this name? Yes / No

Address………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

......

Tel……………………………..(h)…………………………………...(w)……………………………….(m)

Email address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Single/widower/divorced (please delete)

Name of the parish church where you live......

Are you on the Electoral Roll of one of the churches in the Shill & Broadshire Benefice? Yes/No

If yes, which church? .…......

Bride's full name……………......

Have you always been known by this name? Yes / No

Address………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

......

Tel………………………………(h)……………………………...(w)……………………………………(m)

Email address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Single / widow / divorced (please delete)

Name of the parish church where you live......

Are you on the Electoral Roll on one of the churches in the Shill & Broadshire Benefice? Yes / No

If yes, which church?......

Are either of you foreign nationals? Yes /No

Please select which of the following apply and state if Bride (B) or Groom (G):

That one of you:

has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months
was baptised in the parish concerned
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

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

That one of your parents or grandparents:

was married in the parish

Are you happy for your names to go in the online calendar on our website and in the Parish Pump magazine (which is also published on our website)? Yes / No

GETTING MARRIED IN THE SHILL VALLEY WITH BROADSHIRE BENEFICE

Please return within one month

Information required for filling in the marriage registers:

1The date of your wedding

2The groom's full name

3The groom's age on the wedding day

4The groom's marital status (single/widower/divorced)

5The groom's job

6The groom's residence at the time of marriage

7The groom's father's full name

8The groom's father's rank or profession (say if deceased)

9The bride's full name

10The bride's age on the wedding day

11The bride's marital status (single/widow/divorced)

12The bride's job

13The bride's residence at the time of marriage

14The bride's father's full name

15The bride's father's rank or profession (say if deceased)

16The full names of the people you choose to witness your marriage (you only need two)

17The name of the officiating minister

Thank you for completing this form. Please return it along with copies of your passports/ birth certificates, and utility bill / council tax bill/ driving licence to the benefice administrator within one month.

Once the form has been received, we will be in touch to confirm if you are eligible to be married in our parishes and to discuss dates.

Contact details

The Rev’d Harry MacInnes (Rector)

The Rectory, Church Lane, Shilton, Oxfordshire, OX18 4AE

Telephone: 01993 845954

e-mail:

Trish Chadwick (Benefice Administrator)

Parish Office, St. Mary’s Church, Church Green, Witney, OX28 4AW

Telephone: 07585 758574

e-mail:

For Black Bourton please return to Richard Betteridge –