Weddings at St Mark's 

A wedding is one of life’s great moments, a time of solemn commitment as well as good wishes, feasting and joy. St John tells us how Jesus shared in such an occasion at Cana, and gave there a sign of new beginnings as he turned water into wine.

Marriage is intended by God to be a creative relationship, as his blessing enables two people to love and support each other in good times and in bad. For Christians, marriage is also an invitation to share life together in the spirit of Jesus Christ. It is based upon a solemn, public and life-long covenant between two people, which are declared and celebrated in the presence of God and before witnesses.

A church wedding is a legally binding service and there are certain qualifications that mean your marriage will be legally valid. You may be married at St Mark's when either the bride or bridegroom (or both) live in the parish, if you are not sure if you live within the parish boundaries, go to achurchnearyou.com and type in your postcode and you will be able to find out if you are indeed in the parish.

You may also be married at St Mark's if you meet any of the following 'qualifying connections':

• if this is the parish where you were baptised and/or confirmed
• if you have lived in this parish for 6 months or more, at any time during your lives
• if you have attended worship regularly at our churches for at least 6 months (meaning at least twice a month)
• if this is the parish where your parents have lived or worshipped (during your lifetime)
• if your parents or grandparents were married in this parish.

If either (or both) of you have been married before and divorced this is not a barrier to being married in the Church of England but it is something that needs to be discussed with the priest who is going to marry you. You would also need to show a decree absolute to prove your previous marriage has been dissolved.

As it stands, legally it is not possible for a church of England church to offer same sex marriage ceremonies. When the government introduced same sex marriage in 2014, the Church of England deliberately asked to be excluded from that process, so your marriage would not be legally valid. The clergy at St Mark's are willing to offer pastoral alternatives to any same sex couples who wish to have their relationship recognised before God, please do reach out to them if this is something you would be interested in. 

If you would like to find out more about getting married at St Mark's, please contact the vicar (vicarstmarksbr2@gmail.com), the curate (curatestmarksbr2@gmail.com), or use the contact us function here.