Your Wedding at St Cuthbert’s Church Ormesby
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In order to marry in a Church of England parish church, one of you needs to have a qualifying connection and this is a rule that all parish churches follow:
You can marry here if you can show:
That one of you:
- is currently resident in the parish or
- was baptised in the parish or
- was prepared for confirmation in the parish or
- has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or
That one of your parents, at any time after you were born:
- has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
- has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or
That one of your parents or grandparents:
- was married in the parish
Legalities
To ensure the marriage complies with both UK Civil and Church law, there are certain aspects of a church wedding that must be fulfilled.
If either of you is a citizen of a country outside Europe, a special procedure will need to be followed. Whether you can marry in the UK is likely to depend on getting permission from the civil registrar. We will advise you of what you must do.
Marrying of divorces
This may be possible but you both need to have a meeting with the Vicar before you can book a wedding. To arrange this, please contact Revd Robert Opala, Monday to Wednesday or Friday, 9am to 5pm, or come to the church on a Sunday morning between 11am and 12noon.
You will also both need to attend an open ‘Christenings and Weddings Enquiries’ hour, which we hold each Sunday morning between 11am and 12noon at St Cuthbert’s Church.
Can I get married at St Cuthbert’s if I or my partner lives abroad?
If you are connected with the parish (as set out in the list above), the answer is probably yes, but you must contact the vicar at the earliest stage of planning, because there may be some special legal steps that have to be taken.
Can I have a Gay wedding at St Cuthbert’s?
St Cuthbert’s is sympathetic and understanding and welcoming of gay people. However, in the Church of England, a Marriage between two people of the same sex is not possible in the church.
How do I book a wedding?
In the first instance, we need to see you both at church at the 10:00am Sunday morning service, so that we can meet you.
We hold a Christenings and Weddings Enquiries hour at the church each Sunday morning between 11am and 12noon. This is when we discuss bookings and you both would need to bring photo ID (passport or driving license) and proof of address for both of you in the form of utility bills or similar documents, and there is a £100 deposit, plus the vicar needs to see either your passport or your birth certificate, to secure the date and time.
Weddings normally take place on a Saturday at either 12noon, 2pm or 4pm. We do not take bookings over the phone or by email. You can however fill in your details into the Wedding Enquiries Form, see link below. The vicar or one of the team will then contact you to discuss your enquiry and firm up a booking so long as you can meet the requirments for marring at this church.
Please also look at the Church of England’s wedding webpage
Please read the section on qualifying connections, and if you don’t live in the parish but have another qualifying connection, then please bring any additional evidence that we’d require.
How much does it cost?
The cost varies according to which year you wish to get married, because the Church of England sets the fees every year. You will have to pay the fees set for the year you marry, not those set for the year you book the wedding, unless they are the same.
If you are marrying outside the parish you live in then you also need a qualifying connection to the church, you intend to marry in. Details can be found via the Church of England wedding webpages, link below.
This year (2025), a wedding will cost £631, this is made up of the marriage fee, the publishing the banns of marriage fee and also includes a Verger fee. There are additional charges for options, for example, if you require the Organist to play at your wedding or would like the Bellringers to ring the bells for your wedding or for us to decorate the church with flowers for your wedding. If you live outside the parish boundaries you will also have to pay £56 to your local parish church for the banns to be read and for the certificate to show that they have been read in your local church. Give this certificate to the vicar marrying you. This is a legal requirement to enable the vicar to marry you.
If you live in Ormesby Parish but are marrying in another church you will need to contact us and arrange for your banns to be read at St Cuthbert’s Ormesby ( your local parish church). You wil need to pay £56 to the church for the reading of the banns and for a certificate showing they have been read here. You need to give the certificate to the vicar marrying you in the other church. This is a legal requirement to enable the vicar to marry you.
We will not know the fees for future years until the Church of England set them and release them to us, typically in November each year.
Everything is explained in detail at the ‘Christenings and Weddings Enquiries’ hour, each Sunday morning between 11am and 12noon.
Please remember we are not a wedding venue, we are a place of worship
Please see the Church of England’s wedding webpage https://www.yourchurchwedding.org
We look forward to welcoming you!
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