on the day

This is a big day for you as a couple and we do not want to dd to your concerns or worries for the day. All you need to do is to remember the things we talked about at the rehearsal and everything will be fine. Here are a couple of questions about the day:

What time should I book the wedding for?

We are flexible here and usually we only book one wedding per day, though very occasionally we may have two services on the day. The best thing to do is to work back from the reception. That is often the thing which has the clearest fixed time in the day. Let's say you were having a meal at the reception and then an evening party afterwards. You may want to eat at, say 5pm, in order to give plenty of time between the meal and the party. So then you would need to have all the guests at the reception for 4-30pm and it might take roughly 30 minutes to get everyone to the reception (4-00pm). Then, of course there are the photos, depending on your photographer these can take anywhere between 30 minutes and 90 minutes! Let's give that an hour (3-00pm). The service itself will take about 45 minutes, so rounding it up, you would need to begin the service at 2pm. You will find that most wedding services begin at either 1pm or 2pm for just this reason. We can have the service whenever you like provided, according to our rules, that it is 'within the hours of daylight'!

What about the photographer?

We see the service as very special and understand that you will want to keep a momento of the service. However it is also a deeply significant religious occasion, where we meet with God and make lifelong vows. So, we will allow the 'official photographer' to take slow exposure photos from the back of church. These do not interrupt the service and yet give you a good flavour of what is going on. We do not allow the guests to take photos during the service, but with your permission we will say that they may take photos as you come down the aisle to your final piece of music. This will mean that the service is not disrupted, and at the same time, they get a good photo of the occasion. We are very strict about people walking around during the service and 'clicking flash' here, there and everywhere! We have even threatened to eject people doing this dreadfully distracting practice.

What about Video recording the service?

There are a number of issues around video recording and it is a difficult area, to such an extent that many churches refuse to allow the video recording of wedding services altogether. We reserve the right to refuse to allow the recording of weddings, but in general, and under strict conditions we do allow it. We will talk with you about the whole area, but there are copyright issues involved as well as the possible disruption and disturbance with the service. Please do not assume that we will allow video recording, but neither assume that we rule it out.

What about confetti?

Confetti is a tradition, which, over the years, has caused churches thousands of pounds in cleaning bills and not a few serious accidents! It all seems very inocuous and lighthearted, but we had a wedding last July and I am still clearing up confetti from it and it is now 11 months later. Wet paper confetti turns the steps into ice, and plastic confetti is an absolute nightmare! We do not allow any confetti within the church grounds. Again, as we discuss the wedding with you, if you say, only the confetti that you personally bring is to be used, and that confetti is easily bio-degradable (e.g. rose petals, rice) then we would allow that only. The danger is that some well meaning aunt gets in on the act and upturns several boxes of plastic horse shoes all over you!

What about the flowers?

We are quite flexible here. We have a group of ladies who do the flowers in church regularly and they will do some flowers for you, and some extra if you wish. Of course, they would ask you to contribute to the cost of them, but this is usually only a few tens of pounds. You may want to use a florist and they will decorate the chruch for you, which will be considerably more expensive. If you use a florist, you might want to take the flowers with you at the end of the service. You are quite at liberty to do so, but we would ask that, if possible, you leave one of two arrangements in church, because our ladies will not have done anything and the church can look very bear the day after when all the flowers have been taken out.

What about the service?

 We will go through the service itself at the rehersal, but here are a few questions we ask concerning the service:

What type of service do we want?
We offer a modern service (Common Worship), or can do the marriage responses from the old service (1662). The old service is being used less and less nowadayds, but we can still use the 'traditional' words for the vows, if you wish.

How many hymns do you want?
This would normally be two, but if you have good singers, then three. (We have Mission Praise complete which will accommodate most tastes)

How many rings are you having?
Is it to be one, or two? If there are two rings, we say words with each ring.

Does the bride want to say obey?
There is an option in today's services for the bride to omit the word obey.

What music do you want to enter and leave the church?
This is usually the Bridal March at the beginning, and the Wedding March at the end, though once again we can accommodate most tastes.

Do you want the church with extra heating?
This applies particularly in winter. There is already a cost included for background heating, but it may be necessary to have the heating on for a considerable period, in which case there is an additional cost.

Are you having a printed order of service?
This is often the simplest method of running the service, because everything is on one sheet. We will discuss the Order of Service when we meet. A tip here to cut your costs down. If you are having these produced professionally; have the minimum number produced in this way (e.g. for the reception party only), and then photocopy an extra number yourselves so that you can he sure of giving everyone in the church an Order of Service leaflet (though those not in the official party will not have theirs in a card cover).