Contact Details and How to Find Us
CREATING COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE
If you have come to this page it is probably because you are preparing for your wedding - CONGRATULATIONS!
Weddings in other Churches - BANNS
You may be getting married elsewhere but live in the Parish of North Swindon in which case you will need us to read your Banns. If so you can download the relevant forms here. You will need to print them off and post them back because we need signed copies.
Wedding Banns Covering Letter
Wedding Banns Application Form
Weddings at St Andrews
You may be hoping to get married at St Andrew's in which case please read on below or follow the links.
Legal Requirements - Wedding Service - Marriage Preparation - Practicalities in Church - Marriage Vows - Readings - Music - Hymns - Art of Marriage
To be married in this country you must be over 16. If you are between 16 and 18 you must have your parents’ consent.
Marriage in Church
Marriage is one of God’s gifts to us so it is right to begin it with a service in church. There is an old saying that marriage is like a three-legged stool – husband, wife and God. You can imagine what happens if one leg is forgotten.
God created marriage and wants to be with you both, to guide you in making decisions, to heal your hurts, to strengthen and encourage you to follow him and to fill your hearts with the joy of knowing that he will always love you.
By choosing to be married in church, you invite God to be the chief guest at your wedding. You will ask and receive his blessing on you at the start of your married life together. Your marriage service gives praise to God just as our services do week by week and just as people have praised God for generation after generation.
Marriage in Your Parish Church
Church law says that you have a right to be married in the parish in which one of you lives. A public announcement is then made in church on three Sundays during the main service of the day. This is known as Calling the Banns. If you and your partner live in different parishes, then banns must be called in both parishes and you will need to give us a certificate to show that this has been done. Banns must be called within three months of your marriage. We can agree dates together. We hope that you will join us at some of the weekly services leading up to your wedding and especially when your banns are called.
Marriage in Your Usual Place of Worship
You may also be married at a church other than your parish church if one of you is on the electoral roll. To be on the electoral roll of a church you must be baptised and have been a regular worshipper there for at least six months. Banns will then be called at this church, as well as in the parish churches where you are both living.
Marriage by Special Licence
If you wish to marry in a church where neither of you are resident or on the electoral roll you will have to apply for a special licence. When applying you need to show good reason for wanting to get married at the church in question. ‘Because it’s pretty’ isn’t a good enough reason! In the Church of England we try to encourage people to get married in their local churches as this helps them become part of their community and also allows for the priest and Christian people in the parish to continue to care and support you after the day itself. If you are granted a special licence then you won’t require banns to be read. [Please note: special licences are not granted if one of you is divorced.]
Re-marriage
Although the church believes that marriage as a lifelong commitment it does allow for remarriage following a divorce. If you or your partner has been married before we would like to talk openly about the circumstances and the current situation regarding family members from any previous marriage. We understand that, regrettably, marriages do break down but before offering remarriage we would like to feel you have seriously considered what went wrong, perhaps even the things you might have done differently. The reason for doing this is that we want you and your partner to have the best start for your married life together.
Passports
Some brides like to have a passport in their married name. The Passport Office can supply you with a form so that you can get this done before the wedding. Leave plenty of time for this and send it to us to sign. However, don’t panic! You can continue to travel under your maiden name!
Most people like to have a printed order of service to keep as a souvenir. Thanks to PC’s this need not be expensive. If you are having a printed order of service please let us see a draft before it goes to print.
Music
It is usual to have 3 hymns. There is a selection in this booklet [p.14] to help you make your choice. You may want to choose organ music with which to go in and out of Church and during the signing of the registers. Again a selection of the traditional music is listed in the booklet [p.13]. If you’d like other pieces please let us know. Alternatively you may like to consider some favourite pieces from a CD or you may know talented singers or musicians you’d like to invite to contribute to your day.
Readings
There is always a reading from the Bible. There is a selection of the most common ones within this booklet for you to look at [p.9-13]. There are also alternative readings about love and marriage that you might like to consider in addition to one from the Bible. You may also like to ask a friend or relative to do the reading on the day. If so, they could come to the rehearsal to practise. The church does not have a PA system but has good acoustics.
Rings
You can chose whether you both give and receive rings during the service or whether only the bride has a ring.
signing the registers
At the end of the service the bride, groom and vicar sign the registers. In addition, you will have to choose two people to sign as witnesses to your marriage.
Collection
We always have a collection at the end of the service and divide it equally between the Church and a charity of your choice.
Even when people have known each other for some time, there can be things that have not been said or expectations about the way things should be done. Before things get really busy we will arrange a time when we can look at some of the issues of married life. And if there are any particular issues that you would like to discuss, please let us know.
Rehearsal
In addition to talking about the service at the marriage preparation it is usual to have your own rehearsal a day or so before the wedding. It is a good idea to have the bridesmaids, best man, ushers and parents at this (as well as anyone else taking part in the service).
Seating
The church can seat 80 people comfortably. The maximum number is about 100 but this will be tight and will restrict movement and vision to some guests.
We will reserve seating for the bridal party and close family with the traditional split of bride’s family on the left and bridegroom’s family on the right. Because of the uneven layout of the church the remainder of guests will sit anywhere in the church.
It is possible to use the choir stalls for close family which can ease the seating if a large number of guests are expected. About 8 people can be seated here.
Disabled Access
There are steps into the church and the space inside is fairly tight but experience has shown that we have space for two or three wheelchairs. We will endeavour to help with any special requirements. Please let us know what you require and we can then plan for these needs. Also please consider parking requirements for disabled guests.
Children
Children are always very welcome in church. However, there is limited space for buggies inside the church. Do not be worried about young children in the church; there is a small area at the back where they can go. If the church is very full however access to this area may be restricted.
Toilets
There are no toilet facilities at the church. Please ensure guests are aware of this.
Car Parking
Parking is limited. It is possible to park about 25 cars in total on the drive and car park. This number will be less if it is wet as the drive can become muddy. Also if the bridal car/carriage is large (e.g. stretched limo or horse drawn carriage) then additional turning space will be required.
Solutions to this problem are:
* Encourage guests to travel together
* Guests meet at the hotel where the reception is to take place and then travel to the church in groups, by private cars or mini-bus (this option can help with the lack of toilets)
* Request to use the parking at Blunsdon Abbey Caravan Park. The Caravan Park needs to be contacted directly on 01793 722100
Ushers
Traditionally couples have two to four ushers to greet guests. Because of the problems of parking, it is a good idea for at least one usher to meet the guests in the car park and ensure that they park efficiently. A member of the church will be available to help the ushers if necessary.
The Church is beautifully cared for by the congregation and it would be a great help if the Ushers could cast their eye around before leaving and help put back kneelers, collect unwanted service sheets, etc.
Photography
Photography, especially with a flash, can be disruptive and intrusive during the service. For this reason we ask for no photography during the service. The official photographer may take photographs at agreed points in the service. This should be discussed with the Vicar before the service begins.
Normally photographs are taken as the bridal party enters and leaves the church and at the signing of the registers. There are also photographs before and after the service.
Videos
We recognise that couples may like to have a permanent record of their wedding perhaps for close family who are unable to attend. Because of the size of the church it is not suitable for professional videoing, however we are happy for a fixed unmanned video to be used to record the service. The complexities of copyright law on music make it necessary for us to charge a small fee to cover the church purchasing a licence for this purpose. The licence the church holds has limitations on the type of music that can be recorded and therefore a separate form will need to be signed as the responsibility on copyright must remain with the recordist.
If you wish to use a video please let us know so that the best option for you can be agreed.
Confetti
We are very happy for you to have confetti. However, please only throw confetti in the car park by the gate and not inside the church or churchyard and please don’t use plastic or metal confetti.
Flowers
Flowers in church can add to the setting of the wedding and we are happy for you to use a professional florist of your choice or to get a friend to do the work. Remember that the church is not large and therefore space must be considered. If you need access to place flowers in the church before the wedding day please organise this well in advance.
It is often best to make arrangements up and place them in the church rather than arranging them at the church. (Please remember there is no water at the church and will need to be brought with you).
The flowers on the altar are normally supplied by a member of the church congregation.
Fees
The main fees for the service are laid down by the Church of England. The cost of the organist and video recording etc. are extra. The Administration fee [£50] is paid when you book your wedding. The reminder of the fees should be paid at least six weeks before your wedding. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Blunsdon St Andrew PCC’.
Fees for 2007:
| Banns | £40.00 |
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| Marriage Service | £274.00 |
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| Marriage Certificate | £3.50 |
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| Administration Fee | £50.00 |
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| Church Fee | £200.00 |
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| Clerk's Fee | £20.00 |
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| Verger | £50.00 |
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| Organist | £50.00 |
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| Video Recording | £10.00 |
Below are copied the vows and declarations which you will make and which are at the heart of the marriage service.
Introduction
In the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, We have come together to witness the marriage of N and N, to pray for God’s blessing on them, to share their joy and to celebrate their love.
Marriage is a gift of God in creation through which husband and wife may know the grace of God. It is given that, as man and woman grow together in love and trust, they shall be united with one another in heart, body and mind, as Christ is united with his bride, the Church.
The gift of marriage brings husband and wife together In the delight and tenderness of sexual union and joyful commitment to the end of their lives. It is given as the foundation of family life in which children are (born and) nurtured and in which each family member, in good times and bad, may find strength, companionship and comfort, and grow to maturity in love.
Marriage is the way of life made holy by God, and blessed by the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ with those celebrating a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Marriage is a sign of unity and loyalty which all should uphold and honour. It enriches society and strengthens community. No one should enter into it lightly or selfishly but reverently and responsibly in the sight of Almighty God.
N and N are now to enter this way of life. They will each give their consent to the other and make solemn vows, and in token of this they will (each) give and receive a ring. We pray with them that the Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen them, that they may fulfil God’s purposes for the whole of their earthly life together.
Declaration
N, will you take N to be your wife/husband? Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honour and protect him/her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him/her as long as you both shall live?
I will.
Vows
I, N, take you, N
to be my husband/wife,
to have and to hold
from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
'til death us do part;
according to God’s holy law.
In the presence of God I make this vow.
Giving of Rings
N, I give you this ring
as a sign of our marriage.
With my body I honour you,
all that I am I give to you
and all that I have I share with you,
within the love of God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Below are copied some of the possible readings from the Bible for your wedding service.
John 15:9-12
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
1 Corinthians 13: 1-13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. Buts as for prophecies, they will comes to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty of thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his sings, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Romans 12:1-2, 9-13
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do no lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your harts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know that love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen
Genesis 1:26-28,31
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our own image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps over the earth.” So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
1 John 4:7-12
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only son in the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loves us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Genesis 2:18-25
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took of one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
Matthew 7:21,24-27
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven. Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!
Mark 10:6-9
But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Colossians 3:12-17
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also may forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Other readings on the subject of love and marriage are plentiful – in books, on the internet….
Back to topTraditional music when the bride comes into church:
Bridal March from Lohengrin (Wagner)
Traditional music when you leave church after the service:
Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn)
During the signing of the registers:
Sheep May Safely Graze
Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring (Bach)
When choosing the hymns think about which ones you and your friends and family may know and be able to sing.
It is normal to have two or three hymns. You can also have other music, CD’s or music performed by friends. This can either be in place of hymns or during the signing of the registers, or as the Bride comes up or down the aisle.
Popular hymns and songs include
All things bright and beautiful
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
To God be the glory
Praise my soul the King of heaven
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus
Bind us together, Lord
Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Father I place into your hands
Guide me O thou great Redeemer
Jerusalem
Lord for the years
Make me a channel of your peace
O Jesus I have promised
The King of love my shepherd is
Amazing grace
Love divine, all loves excelling
Now thank we all our God
The Lord’s my shepherd
At the name of Jesus
Come down, O Love divine
Father hear the prayer we offer
Great is thy faithfulness
Jesus stand among us
O worship the King
Lord of all hopefulness
Morning has broken
Praise to the Lord, the almighty
A good marriage must be created.
In the marriage, the little things are big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say, ‘I love you’ at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together and facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right person.
It is being the right partner.
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