When you get married it is a legal requirement to give public notice of your intentions in the areas where each of you lives. For a church wedding this notice is given at main services in the parish churches where you actually live. The banns are read three times in each church so that people have the chance to make a legal objection to your getting married. (The main reason is to prevent bigamy). Don’t worry about arranging banns in the church where you are to be married, that will be done for you and the cost added to the bill. Normally the banns will be read on the first three Sundays of the month before you’re getting married; we read them near the start of the service.

The one who is not marrying at his or her local church (i.e. Church of England church) needs to know what that local church is (it may not necessarily be the nearest one!) Ring the minister and answer his or her questions. He or she will then arrange for the banns to be read and will explain how the banns certificate is to be collected and there is a fee for this. Once you have the certificate it must then be given to the priest who is marrying you so that he or she knows that the legal stuff has been properly dealt with. You can’t be married legally without that bit of paper.

If your marriage is to be authorised by the Archbishop’s Special Licence or Registrar’s Certificate, we will discuss the details for this separately.

The parish church no longer issues the old certificate and instead you will sign a Marriage Document or Schedule at your ceremony, this will then be delivered to the District Registrar for registration. The fee will be £11 and payable direct to the Registry Office, and you will need to contact the Registry Office at Cornwall Council to formally apply for your certificate(s) www.cornwall.gov.uk or 0300 1234 181. Your certificate will be issued, and the copy held on an electronic register bringing it into line with other registrations.

As it is your service, we like you to feel that you can choose whatever music you want i.e., what hymns, what music to come up and down the aisle to, and what you hear while the registers are being signed. For guidance in your musical choice please speak to the priest marrying you, who can put you in contact with the organist or check out suggestions on the Church of England website www.yourchurchwedding.org It is also possible for you to have your own live musician(s) or singer. And we can put you in touch with the organist who will be playing at your wedding if you would like to discuss your music with them.

Everybody wants photos and quite a few want videos. The only rule for us is that nothing should distract. In practice, this means videos can be used only before and after the ceremony except by special arrangement where the camera is in a fixed position (The recording copyright licence is the responsibility of the wedding couple). I have no objection to people taking pictures in the church before and after the service, you can also use anywhere in the churchyard that you wish. I do ask that there is no photography during the service and no moving about please. There is no problem before and after the service ~ that includes the signing of the registers and the coming in and out of the bride and groom.

If you are having bells, it would be very much appreciated if at your rehearsal you could bring cash to give to the bell ringers the next day. It saves us having to post the fees to visiting ringers later on.

We would encourage you to come to services in our church; it will help you to get a feel for the place for when you come to be married. We shall have a rehearsal a few days before the day to go over the service and who does what and when. The aim is to relax you for the big day. Naturally, this is not a dress rehearsal!

We are happy for you to arrange flowers in the church, but please check what is permissible before ordering a florist.

Should you wish to have the organ played, we are lucky to work with brilliant musicians who can advise and play all types of music for your special day.

As we are a Benefice, if you reside in one of our five parishes, you may qualify to be married at any of our churches within the Benefice.

If you are not from the area but wish to be married in one of our Churches please contact the Benefice office for further information.

Here at our Cornwall wedding venue, we just love our local parish church St Wyllow of Lanteglos by Fowey. Many of our couples like a Christian church wedding ceremony, so we thought it would be a good idea to ask our Reverend all about planning your church wedding in Cornwall with your burning questions!

Richard Allen is the rector of Trelawny. He has been ordained for 30 years. He has spent most of his time working as a school chaplain at Millfield and Christ College Brecon. He is a PE teacher by trade and whilst in school taught rugby, hockey football and cricket. Richard has spent his entire career working with young people and prides himself on being flexible and understanding and has tried to bring the church into the twenty-first century and make it relevant to this generation. It is his intention to make your wedding service a happy, fun, joyous and memorable occasion. He is thoroughly enjoying his Cornish swansong.

1. Can I get married in a church where I don’t live?

When planning your church wedding in Cornwall, t is still practical to get married in St Wyllow of Lanteglos By Fowey, a beautiful ancient site of worship found on the Cornish Coast Path and only a 5-minute drive from your beautiful Cornwall wedding venue, Tredudwell Manor.

There are two key ways to get married at our beautiful church, lots of the couples marrying in our churches use these methods.

1. You may find you have a qualifying connection i.e. your family has previous connexions to one of these parishes. See the Church of England website marriage qualifying connections.
2. If you don’t have a connection that qualifies, all you need to do is attend worship 6 times in the lead-up to your planned wedding or come and stay in the parish you wish to be married in for 8 nights. We would be delighted to help and advise in more detail how this works.

2. How much does a church wedding ceremony cost?

Here are the essential costs to have a church wedding with us:

Banns  £34.00

Marriage Service  £665.00*

Non-statutory admin contribution £35.00

Clergy travel costs £20.00

Total: 754.00

+

Optional extras:

Organist fee (if required) £100.00

Bell ringers by special arrangement  £150.00

*If you are a non-parishioner or have no original connection to the parish church a levy of £100 will be applied to the total cost.

When planning your church wedding in Cornwall, a non-returnable deposit of £100 will be required to secure your chosen date and cover administration. The remaining fees will be payable before the reading of the banns/4 months before your wedding day and an invoice for the balance will be issued accordingly.

3. What happens in a church wedding ceremony?

A normal church wedding service will include the marriage vows. There is an opportunity to sing a hymn or two or listen to music which is special to the couple during the service and as you arrive and depart. Normally, there are some readings, sometimes verses from the Bible and some prayers for the newly married couple. When you’re planning your church wedding in Cornwall, the service is very much how you would like to tailor it.

4. What are the legal requirements for a church wedding?

Before you get married, I (Richard the Reverend) will meet with you, and check your eligibility to marry which will include seeing passports or driving licences and proof of address. If you have been married before, he is more than willing to talk with you and still hopefully accommodate a wedding for you. If you are a non-EU passport holder it is still possible to marry but there is a longer process which he will happily explain.

5. Can you play music at a church wedding? What about decoration, photography or videography?

We want you to have a special day so within reason we leave all this to the discretion of the couple, the photographer or videographer along with your choice of music. We try not to be fussy but fun and accommodating!

6. What kind of music should you have at a church wedding?

The music is very much up to you. Couples can choose traditional music played on the organ or grand piano but may like to use a local music group. We can recommend an excellent string quartet from Lanreath. Some have hired a gospel choir while others have friends and family who’d like to play.

7. Can I have a blessing at Tredudwell, our favourite Cornwall wedding venue instead?

I’d be delighted to come to Tredudwell to offer a blessing to any couple who have married at the registry office prior or have used a marriage celebrant at Tredudwell. A blessing can take any form that the couple would like. It can just be some simple prayers but for others, they might like almost a full-scale marriage service which we can perform and to your friends and family it will look just like a normal marriage service. When planning your church wedding in Cornwall, it is all up to you

8. Who do we contact to plan a church wedding with you?

Please contact the Benefice Administrator Pippa Morrell-Davies 07399563440 trelawnybenefice@gmail.com. If you would like to talk to Richard please email on rev@trelawnybenefice.com or phone 07383621292.

Thanks so much Richard for answering our questions which we know you’ll find so useful. If you’d like to check availability to have your wedding at our Cornwall wedding venue, please get in touch here.

Love

Valerie and all at Tredudwell