Church of England Weddings
If you want a religious wedding, getting married in the Church of England (or Church in Wales) is almost as simple as going to the register office because the Church of England is still the state recognised church in the UK.
What to do
Call the vicar of the church in which you'd like to get married and arrange an appointment to go and see him or her. You don't even need to contact the superintendent registrar. The vicar can do that for you. All the legal and practical details are taken care of at the same time.
What you will need
One of the couple needs to be a member of the Church of England and should live in the parish where the couple want to be married. It's best to have a clean slate as far as marriage is concerned if you want a Church of England wedding. The church doesn't allow remarriage in church of people who have been divorced, but individual priests may agree to it. Most priests will agree to give a blessing to a couple where one or both are divorced and have remarried in a civil ceremony. There is some flexibility on this and the best way to find out what to do is to talk to the vicar at your local church or the vicar of the church where you'd like to be married. The usual proof of your name, age, marital status, address, occupation and nationality is required.
How long it takes
Some priests insist that a couple attend pre-marriage classes before the wedding and the classes may run over several months. Otherwise it depends on whether the marriage is by publication of banns or by special licence.
Publication of banns
The banns are read aloud in the church on three successive Sundays before the wedding and, if the couple live in different parishes, the banns must be read in both. You need to be resident in the parish for seven nights before the first Sunday of reading the banns right through to the last Sunday (a minimum of 22 nights) and the wedding must take place within three months of the banns being read.
The banns were originally a means of publicising the wedding to make sure no one had any objections, so if you are known by any name other than the one on your birth certificate you should give that one as well.
There is a small fee for reading the banns but, if one of you is divorced, it's the only way you can be married in the Church of England.
Common licence
This is quicker than reading the banns since only a day's notice is needed before the licence is issued. However, one of you needs to be living in the parish for at least 15 days before the wedding. Go to the priest at the chosen church to find out where to get the licence.
Special licence
These can only be issued by authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury from the Registrar of the Court of Faculties, and there has to be a special reason for it. Once granted, you can get married at any time in the church you have chosen, regardless of where you live.
