Weddings at St Matthias Church, Stoke Newington, London N16 8DD, UK

People often ask what needs to be done to get married at St Matthias’ Church, or indeed any other church. Here you'll find some answers.

First of all, you need to find out which parish you and your partner live in. You can check on the London Diocese website, and you'll find a map of the parish boundary for St Matthias here.

Next, you need to decide which church you want to get married in - you could get married in your parish church, or your partner's parish church, or a church where either of you were baptised, or where you have some other family connection.

Banns of marriage

To marry in church, you must have your 'Banns of Marriage' read on three consecutive Sundays. The banns must be read at the church you are getting married in as well as your parish churches before the wedding takes place.

For example, if the bride lives in the parish of St Matthias (and you will marry there) and the groom lives in Wimbledon, you must have the Banns read in both St Matthias and your parish church in Wimbledon. Alternatively, if you will marry at a church in Yorkshire, the banns must be read in all three churches - both your parish churches and at the church in Yorkshire.

To have your Banns read, you need to collect a 'Banns of Marriage' form from the appropriate churches, fill it in correctly and return it to the parish priests. If you both live in the same parish, you will only need to complete one form.

If you want to be married at St Matthias ...

The criteria for getting married at St Matthias (and any other church) are as follows;

     * You and/or your partner live within the parish boundary and have lived there for
        more than 6 months

OR

     * You and/or your partner are on the Electoral Role inside the parish boundary

OR

     * You and/or your partner have some historical link to the parish church e.g.
        baptised at the church, parents were married there. You must have
        evidence for this.

In all cases, you must both hold British Passports or be able to prove that you or your partner are legal citizens within the UK.

If you meet the conditions above and you would like to get married then please contact our parish priest, Fr David Lambert, to discuss details. See our contact page for Fr David's telephone number and email address.

It's important to remember that marriage is a Sacrament of the Church, and therefore great consideration needs to be given to getting married and you need to discuss this with the parish priest before taking the new life of Holy Matrimony.

The Church takes into consideration Civil Laws and laws applying to Immigration. Marriage is NOT a way to have automatic rights of staying in the country. If you or your partner hold a different passport you will need permission from the Home Office to get married, and you will need to present this permission form to the Registrar’s Office at the Town Hall and obtain a Superintendent’s Licence. Without the correct process, the parish priest cannot marry you.

Marriage is a Sacrament that the Church offers; it is not offered to be abused.

The wedding service and other arrangements

You can discuss your wedding service and all aspects of it with Fr David. For example, you can choose which hymns will be sung, and the music for the ceremony etc.

Fees

The basic cost of getting married in a church is set nationally. You can find full details
of costs on the Church of England wedding site, but here are the statutory fees (there is an additional charge for the use of the church):

Having your banns read - £22 (payable at your parish church and the church where you will marry)

Banns certificate - £12

Wedding fee payable to the church - £254

Marriage certificate - £3.50

Useful links

The diocese of London website.

The Church of England Wedding site - lots of useful information about all aspects of getting married.

You can get nformation about legal responsibilities regarding weddings and getting married from the government information site, Directgov.