What are Banns?

Banns (spelt correctly) are a legal requirement in England. They are designed to prove that the information given by the couple is correct and give opportunity for anyone to object to the accuracy of the information. in most cases the banns are published by the local Registrar in the town where the marriage takes place. The information is often literally 'posted' on a wall of the office for 21 days.

In the Church of England things are slightly different in that the minister, is himself, a registrar. The information given by the couple is available for anyone to look at for 21 days and the banns are 'published', that is read out, in the main service for three consecutive Sundays, and are then valid for 3 months.

All that sounds very 'dry', let's say you were getting married at another church and wanted your banns read at Christ Church. This would happen if either of you live within the parish boundaries (roughly, Atherliegh Way, the A580 and the canal). The thing to do would be to ring the office or the vicarage about 4 months before the wedding (not earlier than 5 months and not later than 1 month) and book an appointment to give us the details of the marriage. One of you will need to sign to say that the information is correct, so we can't take the details over the phone or by email. The banns will then be read in our main morning service for three Sundays, and you are welcome to come to hear then, but it is not legally required. Once this is done and there are no objections, then we will contact you to collect a Banns certificate. The certificate MUST be seen by the minister who is marrying you or he cannot perform the serivce, so it is very important that you get it right.

The cost of reading the banns and a certificate afterwards changes each year, but is roughly £35 in 2007.

Please do not worry about the banns and certificate, if you are getting married in our church we will tell you all about it, or if you are getting married elsewhere, we are sure they will do the same. The main thing to do is to contact the church and book the wedding in good time for everyone (ideally around 12 months beforehand).