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Whoop! We love weddings!

To get married at St Peter’s you need to be an active member of the church, resident in the parish or able to demonstrate a connection to the church. The laws governing who is eligible to get married in a particular church were changed in October 2008 so that there are more ways you can prove a qualifying connection.

You are eligible to marry at St Peter’s if:

a) You live in the parish of St Peter’s. To check this click here and enter your postcode

b) You have attended St Peter’s regularly for over 6 months and can therefore
apply to be on the electoral roll.

c) You were baptised or confirmed in the parish.

d) Your parents or grandparents were married at St Peter’s.

e) You (or any of your parents during your lifetime) have lived in the parish for a period of more than 6 months

f)  You or your parents have regularly worshipped within the parish (either more than 3 times a year for many years or at least once a month for 6 months)

For further details on how to arrange a wedding and for costs, please contact us. If you do not qualify under any of the above criteria, there may be other options which would enable you to marry at St Peter’s. Please contact us directly and we will be able to advise you on possible ways forward.

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Banns of Marriage

Banns are a necessary legal requirement for ALL marriages within the church (unless an alternative licence has been acquired & agreed). Also, if you are getting married in another Anglican church but live in our parish, you will need to have your banns read in St Peter’s on three Sundays before your wedding (as well as the church in which you are getting married). 

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• Banns are an announcement in church of your intention to marry and a chance for anyone to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place.

• Banns are an ancient legal tradition and have been read out every week in churches across the land for millions of couples, over many centuries.

• After your forthcoming marriage is announced, the congregation may be invited to pray for you both. It can be quite special and moving to hear this, so do come along if you can.

• Banns need to be read in the parish where each of you lives as well as the church in which you are to be married, if that is somewhere else. It is your responsibility to arrange banns reading dates with churches in all applicable parishes.

• You must have your banns read out in church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding. This is usually done over three consecutive Sundays but does not have to be.

• As well as being a legal requirement, your banns readings are special public occasions when people in church hear of your intention to marry. It’s an exciting and happy time, so you’re welcome to invite your family and friends to hear your banns too, if you’d like.

• If there is not enough notice given for the banns to be read before the marriage is due to take place, or if one or both of you are British but do not live in England (or Wales), the Common Licence procedure needs to be used rather than banns.

• If one or both of you is a national of a country which is outside the European Economic Area, you will require a Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate to marry, rather than have banns read.

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If you would like to arrange banns dates, please email us here.

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We need at least two weeks notice to arrange banns readings.

We will confirm the dates via email with you. If you do not hear back from us, we may not have received your request so please follow this up.

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