(For Baptisms click Here)
For all wedding enquiries and bookings please contact:
Can I Marry at All Saints Church, Walsoken?
To have the right to marry in All Saints Church, either the bride or the groom will have to live within the area of the Parish Boundary (or have done so in the past for at least six months), have immediate family living within the parish or else have some other significant connection with our Church. We can can explain what 'a significant connection' means and whether you meet the requirements. If you are not sure whether or not you have right to marry in our Church, then please do use the contact details above to clarify.
What are Wedding BANNS?
Most marriages in Church are conducted via what is called "Banns" - it is this that makes the marriage legal and the Banns must be read before you can marry; it is a legal requirement. However, you won’t need to arrange banns until about four months before the wedding date. We will talk to you about this to help you make all the necessary arrangements. To book the date of your wedding you will need to fill in a Wedding Banns form.
How much will a Church Wedding Cost?
Please click here to view the Parochial Fees. This table lists the basic stautory fees, and does not included certain options and extras, such as heating; music/organist; verger or bells. We will discuss these options with you.
Is there Anything Else?
It is now a legal requirement for us to to confirm the nationality of those getting married - so you will need to show your up-to-date passport. If you don't have a passport there are other documents, such as birth certificates etc. that can be used, but you will need to discuss this with us.
Weddings - Further Information
More information is available on the Church of England website: Your Church Wedding
The Christian Understanding of Marriage
The Bible teaches that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, and when marry they commit themselves to spending their lives together in a new relationship.
It is a partnership of love, made richer and deeper through sexual union. Like many people, Christians regard it as the best context for nurturing children, and as the best (many Christians would say the only) setting for sex.
In any marriage ceremony the bride and groom must confirm that they want to marry each other, and after the opportunity has been given publicly for anyone present to object to the marriage, if there is a legitimate, legal reason, the couple join hands and make their vows to each other. They exchange rings, which are worn as a reminder of the vows they have made, the duration of their married life.
If the marriage begins with a wedding service in Church, the minister conducting the service, will remind all present that marriage forms part of a pattern of life established by God. The first marriage that the Bible tells of, is between Adam and his wife, Eve. God declared, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’
In a church service there are readings from the Bible which explain the nature and significance of marriage. The couple make promises to stay together ‘for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish until death us do part’. It is a commitment for life, and not just for the times which are easy. Prayers are said for the couple, which recognise both the joys and difficulties ahead, and ask God’s blessing on them in their new life together.
While marriage is honoured and affirmed among Christians, there is no suggestion that it is necessary for everyone. Singleness, with its freedom and flexibility, is described as ‘a gift’ in the Bible. And Jesus, the Son of God Himself, was unmarried.
Some Christians believe that marriage vows are unbreakable, so that even in the distressing circumstances in which a couple separates, they are still married from God’s point of view. This is so in the Roman Catholic church, although occasionally a marriage is declared to be null (in other words, it never really was a marriage). Other Christians have accepted divorce and remarriage in some circumstances - for example, to relieve one partner of intolerable hardship, unfaithfulness or desertion.
There is rarely divorce without pain. Even when divorce comes as a relief, it follows the pain of broken relationships and dreams, and great anxiety about the impact on children. Christians seek to uphold the seriousness of wedding vows while responding with compassion to deep hurts by recognising that divorce may sometimes be necessary. God grieves alongside the people for whom such a painful separation is taking place.