To discuss arranging a wedding at St Mary's
Drop in to "Clergy Surgery" which is held in church an hour before evensong on Sundays. During the winter months this is between 2.15-3.15pm. In summer between 5.00-6.00pm

Who can get married at St Mary's?
From 2008 new regulations came into force regarding who can legally qualify to get married at St Mary's Church. Couples need to establish a "qualifying connection" by virtue of one or more of the following:

a) by being baptised (christened) in St Mary's and having an entry in the baptism register;
b) by being confirmed in the Church of England and having an entry in St Mary's confirmation register;
c) by having a parent or grandparent who was married at St Mary's;
d) by having your usual place of residence in the Parish for at least six months;
e) by having a parent whose usual place of residence has been in the Parish for at least six months during your lifetime;
f) by habitually attending public worship at St Mary's for at least six months;
g) by one parent habitually attending public worship at St Mary's for at least six months.

The clergy will be willing to talk through these options in more detail with couples. In addition, if either party has had a previous marriage dissolved then this must be discussed with the clergy in accordance with the Church of England guidelines.

Banns
On the first three Sundays of the month before the wedding your banns will be read in St Mary’s at the main service at 10am. This is a legal requirement and a public announcement of your intention to marry. If you can, you should be present to hear your banns read, and it is often a good time to involve parents.  The cost for them being read is part of the wedding fee.

If either of you live outside the area covered by St Mary’s you must arrange for banns to be read at the Church of England parish in which you live. You should make every effort to contact that parish at least three months before your wedding. If you are unsure about the Anglican (Church of England) Parish in which you live, it is possible to use the “search by postcode or place” facility on the website www.achurchnearyou.com. It is often possible to find contact details there as well.
Once your banns have been read and you have paid the parish a small fee (for 2011 this is £34) you must obtain a certificate or a letter which you should bring with you to the wedding rehearsal. Please note that we cannot legally marry you without this certificate.

Home Visit
Many clergy invite several couples to meet one another in a short marriage preparation course. At St Mary’s it is our custom to spend a few hours with you personally. An evening two or three months before the wedding is ideal. This is an opportunity to talk quickly about the flowers, music etc. and perhaps more importantly, a time to reflect frankly about the nature of Christian Marriage and what that might entail for the future.

Rehearsal
Usually for the church rehearsal those present should be the bride and bridegroom, and the two designated witnesses (conventionally the best man and chief bridesmaid).
We try to hold the rehearsal a couple of evenings before the wedding. So for a Saturday Wedding the rehearsal would be sometime on Thursday evening (this has the added advantage that the bell ringers usually meet for practice and it is often possible to go up the tower to meet them!).

Music and choir
Choosing wedding music can be a daunting prospect. In order to help you decide, St Mary's produces a list of hymns that from our experience works well in St Mary's. Short excerpts of several can be heard on the Church of England website. Sometimes we can provide a small choir to help lead the singing of the hymns. There is no objection to the use of recorded music as long as the choice will not cause offence in church. Recorded music is naturally subject to the law governing performing rights. If you need to explore your music choices still further, and discuss what is practical (and possible!) would you contact Mrs June Ollier who will be happy to discuss these with you; you can talk to her after morning worship most Sunday mornings.

Service sheets
A service booklet is provided by the church which includes all the words of the service and a selection of commonly sung hymns. In addition to the booklet many couples choose to have a service sheet printed including hymns.


Suggested Outline Order of Service

Entrance of the Bride
Welcome
1st Hymn
The Marriage
Reading from the bible
(Other readings)
2nd Hymn *
Prayers and Blessing
3rd Hymn
Signing of the Register
Bride and Groom exit
*If two hymns only are to be used, this one is omitted.

From our experience often there are too few printed service sheets and we would ask that you use our versions of the hymns in the event that we have to give out hymn books. Thus we will all quite literally be singing from the same hymn sheet! If you intend to have these printed, do allow plenty of time. Three weeks before your wedding is a good rule of thumb if you are using a professional printer. If you are using modern hymns, the chances are that they are still copyright. You will need to ask your printer to print somewhere the following “Material in this order of service which is covered by the Christian Copyright Licensing Scheme, is produced under Licence no. 95629”


Photos and recording
Please make sure your photographer knows photos are permitted only during the signing of registers, the arrival of the bride and groom, when you leave in procession, and outside the Church. Professional videos may be made only by prior arrangement with the Vicar of St Mary's. If music and musicians are involved in your wedding, a licence must be applied for from the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society for the professionally made video, and additional fees are payable to the musicians. The focus of the service is the bride and groom so it is important that the person making the video recording remains in the designated place and does not distract from the couple getting married. Please note that guests are not permitted to take photos or videos during the service.

Flowers
St Mary's has an excellent flower team who give their services free. They will provide a pedestal arrangement  and flower arrangements at the high altar to a professional standard.. You will be making a small donation towards the flowers used for all the church services over a weekend. Colours can be discussed with our flower arranger and co-ordinator, Mrs Sheenagh Ashworth, and we naturally reserve the right to impose a certain standard for the service especially when your wedding is not the only one on the same day. Access to the church for any additional flowers or decorations supplied by you must be through the co-ordinator.  We will make a small charge form someone to open and close the churchand we expect that and any extra flower arrangements must be removed by your representatives after the service. The flower arrangers will at extra cost (to be negotiated between you and them) supply pew ends and extra flowers.  Please phone 01270-529187 or email Mrs Ashworth flowers@sandbachchurch.co.uk.

Confetti
You are welcome to use confetti outside the Church.
We would prefer this to be as biodegradeable and enviromentally friendly as possible! We would ask that plastic confetti is not used and that packaging is taken away.

Bells
Please contact Paul Burden who will be happy to arrange for a team of bellringers, subject to availability. Fee for the bellringers (£130 in 2011) is dealt with directly by him. Paul may be contacted either by phone 01270 764687 or email bells@sandbachchurch.co.uk

Fees (For 2011)
These are the costs of all the possible elements for weddings and blessings. Please feel free to discuss your particular requirements with the clergy. Please note that there are some additional church and musical costs if your service is recorded.

Vicar (publish banns & service) £141.00

Church Council (publish banns & service) £143.00

Certificate of Marriage £3.50

Clerk £16.50

Miscellaneous Church expenses (travel, heating, lighting, organ fund, flowers)  £116

Verger £30.00

Organist £60.00

Basic Total £510.00

+ Video £40

+ Bells (if available – book directly) £130.00

Choir (if available) £75.00 (max.)


Payment of fees and money
Payment must be made in full three weeks before the service takes place if you intend to pay by cheque. If you would prefer to pay by cash please bring the fee in full to the rehearsal. As a charity, certain parts of the final payment are eligible for tax relief through the giftaid scheme. We will give you a form to sign, if you are agreeable and a tax payer.
There will be an opportunity for your family and friends to make a contribution to the upkeep of the church. Apart from the weekly running costs of £1,700, the roof is about to be replaced with help from English Heritage but still at a considerable cost to the community as well. We would ask for generous giving to ensure the future for the ancient parish church of Sandbach.

And finally.............
Please don’t be anxious about the church service and that you need to manage a great deal about it; there has been a long and happy commitment to officiating and celebrating weddings at St Mary’s church. Please make sure that we have made contact with you by the time your banns are read. If you have any questions, or if we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to ask. Contact the vicar by phone 01270 762379 or by email vicar@sandbachchurch.co.uk or by post 15, Offley Road, Sandbach CW11 1GY.


See also www.yourchurchwedding.org for information on planning your church wedding and there is some insurance and other planning details at http://www.ecclesiastical.com/ourproducts/insurance/weddinginsurance/index.aspx.