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Weddings

First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Planning a wedding can be incredibly stressful, so if you're considering getting married at your local Church, please take your time to read the information below carefully. Booking the Church should be the first thing you do, after that, everything else can fall into place.

As we're sure you're well aware, marriage is a significant step in your relationship and your wedding day should be one of the most important and memorable of your life! Marriage is also a sacrament of the Church and through marriage, God spiritually joins two individuals by means of their solemn vows, their shared love and His blessing.

Getting married at Geddington and Weekley

Here at St Mary Magdalene, Geddington and St Mary the Virgin, Weekley, we celebrate many beautiful weddings every year. We are able to combine our beautiful churches with an engaging ceremony and spiritual experience personal to you and your partner (with even a little light-hearted humour too)!

We do all we can to make the occasion is as enjoyable and meaningful as possible, and we warmly welcome anyone who wishes to get married at our churches. We will work with you to ensure that your wedding is the happiest day of your life.

If you are interested in getting married at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU BOOK THE CHURCH BEFORE MAKING ANY OTHER ARRANGEMENTS FOR YOUR WEDDING TO ENSURE THAT THE DATE IS AVAILABLE.

Wedding Blessings

We also offer the opportunity to have your marriage blessed in a special service of blessing, if you were married in a civil ceremony or to have your marriage blessed and renew your wedding vows after either, many years of marriage, or, following a particularly difficult period in your marriage which you and your partner have now thankfully overcome. This is called ‘Dedication and Affirmation after a Civil Marriage’ or sometimes commonly referred to as a ‘Wedding Blessing’.

Both St Mary Magdalene in Geddington and St Mary the Virgin in Weekley, warmly welcome all enquiries regarding such ceremonies. Whatever your situation, it would be our privilege to explore the possibility of conducting a dedication and affirmation ceremony with you and your partner.

All we ask is that you attend church in the lead up to your ceremony and afterwards, so that you stay in touch with the blessings God bestows.

The Archbishops’ Council recommends that, where a service is on a similar scale to a service of blessing and dedication following a civil marriage or a renewal of marriage vows is on a scale equivalent to a wedding service, the PCC fee should be based on the statutory fee for the service, with the PCC receiving the equivalent of the combined DBF and PCC fee. Wedding Blessing and Renewal of Vows Fees

If you would like to check eligibility, please see the section below.

Planning your big day

The Parish Priest (Vicar), the churches’ volunteer Wedding & Blessing Administrator, and our Musical Director will help you to plan your wedding service, and we will offer advice drawn from our experience to help ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible on the day.

A wealth of information can be found at: http://www.yourchurchwedding.org this can provide some helpful material when we look to tailor your wedding to your needs and to fit our beautiful churches.

Due to popularity and conflicting demands, we regret that availability of the church and the Vicar cannot be guaranteed until you have secured your booking.

Next steps and fees

If you are interested in getting married at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As a Church of England Church, we are required by law to charge statutory fees. There are also additional optional charges for a verger (who sets up the church and works behind the scenes during the service), an organist, bell ringers, the choir and heating (if required). There will also be an additional charge if you wish to make a professional video recording of the ceremony due to copyright law. For the latest fees please see here: Marriage and Associated Fees

In order to secure your wedding booking both partners will need to provide two forms of identification in person (either a Birth Certificate, Passport, Full Driving License, Utility bill; one of which should include a photo and one should confirm your address). To secure the date and time of your wedding, you will also need to pay a £100 deposit (which will be fully refundable up to a month before your wedding date and subtracted from your overall wedding fee).

By law, you can marry at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin if you can show that at least one of you:
1. Has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months
2. Was baptised in the parish;
3. Was prepared for confirmation in the parish;
4. Are on the electoral role of the parish; or
5. Has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months.

Alternatively, you can also marry in our church if:
1. 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
2. If one of your parents or grandparents were married in the parish.

It is important for you to both continue to attend church following your wedding or wedding blessing (in order to keep your relationship with God on track and your marriage or union under his care and protection).

Legal Requirements

1. If you are both UK citizens and are eligible for marriage at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin, it is a legal requirement for your marriage banns to be called in the parish church. If one or both of you are resident in a separate parish, your banns will need to be called in that parish as well.
2. If you are under 18 years old you will need your parents’ written consent to be married and by law you cannot be married until you are 16.
3. A wedding can take place on any day of the week (subject to availability and agreement with the Vicar), but must take place between 8.00am and 6.00pm.
4. If one or both of the people marrying is a foreign national or if your marriage is to take place too soon for Banns to be read, then you will need to apply for a licence. The Vicar will advise you which licence is necessary. You will normally need to contact the Church to arrange your wedding at least 6 months before the date you hope to secure for your wedding.
5. The following relatives are not allowed to marry by law. If they do, the marriage will be automatically void even if they do not know they are related: a child (including an adopted child); a parent (including an adopted parent); a brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister; a grandparent; a grandchild; a brother’s, sister’s, half-brother’s or half-sister’s child.
6. If you are previously divorced then you will need to be prepared to speak honestly to the Vicar regarding the breakdown of your previous marriage. In order to book a wedding, you will also need to provide evidence of the legal dissolvement of your previous marriage, in the form of a Decree Absolute (the law does not allow any other documentation to be used).

Marriage Banns

If you are to be married at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin, or if you are to be married at another Church of England church and one or both of you are resident in our parishes, it is a legal requirement for your Banns of Marriage to be called. Banns will be called over three Sundays within three months of your wedding (these do not have to be consecutive, although they usually are). This will take place during the main morning service which takes place every Sunday at 9.45am in Geddington and 11.15am in Weekley.
For your banns to be read at St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin, please follow the following steps:

1. To check if you live in the parish visit: http://www.achurchnearyou.com and type your postcode into the search engine.
2. If you live within the parish contact the administrator to complete the form no later than three months before your marriage date.
4. The parishes’ Wedding Administrator will contact you with dates for the three Sundays on which your banns will be called. We ask you to attend the service to hear them read.
5. After the third reading of the banns, you will be contacted to arrange a time to collect and pay for a banns certificate. For the latest fees, please see the latest Parish fees table.
6. The certificate should be given to the clergy person conducting your wedding before your wedding date.