GETTING MARRIED IF YOU LIVE IN HEATHERSIDE PARISH
We want to encourage people to get married as we believe that marriage is a great blessing. We welcome all enquiries from people who wish to be married in church. Heatherside church does not have a church building as we share the use of the community centre but we are still able to perform your marriage in a neighbouring Church.
To get married in our parish one of you must be resident in the parish or on the Electoral Roll of the church or you will need to claim a qualifying connection with the parish.
To find out if you live in the parish contact the Vicar or check using the A Church Near You website.
A qualifying connection is valid when one party can prove one of the following:
- he or she was baptised in the parish
- had his or her Confirmation entered in the church register book
- has at any time been his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least six months
- has at any time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least six months
OR
- a parent of that person has at any time during the person’s lifetime
- had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months or
- habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least six months.
OR
- a parent or grandparent of that person was married in the parish.
Whenever a person wishes to claim a qualifying connection in order to get married it will be up to that person to provide the evidence for the claim and not the responsibility of the parish priest to research it.
This all sounds rather legalistic but it actually widens the possible choice for people thinking about getting married.
You may not be eligible to be married in church if
- one of you has been previously married
- one of you is under eighteen years of age
- one of you is a foreign national.
However, these may not rule out a church marriage and in such circumstances we suggest you come and talk to the Vicar who will be pleased to discuss this with you.
Marriages Blessed in Church
If you have chosen a civil wedding, you may consider having your marriage blessed in the church. Many people value the spiritual dimension of the marriage ceremony which a service of blessing can provide. There are no legal requirements for a blessing. The service can be simple and private or formal in the presence of your family and friends with many of the traditional ingredients.
Renewal of Vows
Sometimes people like to mark a special wedding anniversary with a chance to renew their marriage vows. If you would like to consider this please contact the Vicar who will be delighted to discuss the possibilities with you.
Organising your wedding
If you live in the Heatherside parish, worship with us or have a qualifying connection, you are entitled to get married in an immediate neighbouring parish as we do not have a church building – usually the minister of Heatherside will officiate at these services so please contact the Vicar.
Our immediate neighbouring parishes are:
St Paul’s, Crawley Ridge, Camberley
St Peter’s & St Francis’, Frimley
You will need to contact these parishes direct to see if their churches are available and from then on for all practical arrangements apart from the planning of the service and marriage preparation.
There is much more to see on the Your Church Wedding and Your Marriage pages on the Church of England website.
What Does it Cost?
The standard table of fees for wedding services is shown below. The Church Commissioners and the Parochial Church Council review this annually on 1st January.
A non-returnable deposit is usually payable at the time the wedding is booked and the balance must be paid at least one month before the date of the wedding. Each of the neighbouring parishes has slightly different arrangements so you will need to deal with them direct. Heatherside Church will make no direct charge other than for the reading of the banns.
Optional extras
For organist, choir, bells, and video photography local charges may apply.
All initial enquiries, for the time being, should be directed to the Church administration team on heathersidechurch@gmail.com