Weddings

Congratulations!

Congratulations on your engagement! An exciting and happy time lies ahead and there will be so much to think about. Thank you for considering All Saints Grayswood as a place to be married; we hope you will have a very happy time planning your wedding.
If you require further information please contact the Church Office.

Who can get married at All Saints, Grayswood?

These are the legal requirements for getting married in All Saints (common to all CofE churches) which you would need to meet.

1 If either of you live within the United Benefice (in Grayswood or Haslemere parish - St Bart’s and St Christopher’s, but not Shottermill, Weyhill) you have a right to be married in your parish church. You can check your parish by visiting A Church Near You and entering your postcode. You will need to know your parish for having Banns read where you live.

2 If that is not the case, but you have what’s called a ‘qualifying connection’ to either of the above parishes then you can fill in a Qualifying Connections Form to that effect and everything else is straightforward. A qualifying connection includes: one or both of you, or your parents or grandparents have lived here or worshipped here for at least 6 months in your lifetime, or were married here, or you were baptised here.

3 If none of the above apply, there are two ways still open to you:
a) if you attend this church regularly, after 6 months you can be entered on the All Saints electoral roll – the membership list - and then it is straightforward.
b) you can apply directly to the Archbishop of Canterbury for a Special Licence although you would still have to give a good reason for wanting to be married here. This process can be lengthy and incurs additional fees.

What will my church wedding cost?

There is a required legal fee for marrying in a church. In 2023* it costs £556 if you marry away from where you live and £539 if you marry in your home parish. This is set by the Church of England nationally and is the same for every church. This basic legal fee includes the cost of the vicar, the church, calling your banns, a banns certificate, lighting and all administration.

After your wedding, when it has been registered at the relevant register office, you will also pay the register office £11 for your marriage certificate – the certificate is no longer issued by churches.

There are additional fees for the verger and of course any optional extras you may choose such as the organist, choir, church florist , photographer or videographer. Bear in mind too that if your wedding is filmed the musicians can request an increase in their fee to take into account professional performing rights.

The reading of Banns

Calling Banns is a very ancient practice and involves announcing in church your full names and your intention to marry, and requesting anyone who knows of an impediment to the marriage to declare it.

Banns are read here at the 10.00 am service and we will let you know the dates in good time. After your forthcoming marriage is announced, the congregation is invited to pray for you both. It can be quite special and moving to hear this, so do come along if you can.

The law requires that Banns are called no sooner than three months before the wedding, on three Sundays in the parish in which you each live. This means that if either or both of you live(s) outside the parish, Banns must be called there too, even if you are on this Electoral Roll. Note that this sometimes means that Banns will need to be called in three different parishes. It’s your responsibility to arrange any calling of Banns outside this parish and we strongly recommend that you arrange it straight away. If the Banns are not called in the parishes where you live and/or the certificate is not delivered to the church where the wedding is to take place, the marriage cannot legally go ahead. You will be charged a small fee for each publication of Banns and certificate. Where applicable, please deliver the certificate to the Grayswood church office at least 3 weeks before the wedding.

Preparing for marriage and Getting to know you

As a church we are concerned that you should have all the support and preparation you need, not just for the wedding day and service, but more especially for your married life together. There are preparation meetings with the priest which allow you to form a good, friendly relationship with the person who conducts your wedding, so that you feel they can be approached if ever you feel the need, once married, to chat informally with someone who will be ready to listen.

There will usually be a couple of meetings on mutually agreed days and times:

  • an initial ‘getting to know you’ meeting, when we will make sure that you are thinking ahead about the various practical issues, and the meaning of Christian marriage;
  • one meeting which focuses on the wedding service itself

In between these meetings, you will be expected to do a little reading and thinking and to discuss particular issues together.

We hope that you will be able to join us for worship on at least some Sundays as you prepare for your wedding. Our main service of the day is at 10am - details are on the church notice board. Coffee is served afterwards in the Village Hall.

Making contact

The Parish Office is situated inside the Church building:
All Saints Church Parish Office
Grayswood Road
Grayswood, GU27 2DJ
01428 656504
allsaintsgrayswood@gmail.com

The Parish Administrator and the priests work part-time. The Parish Office is usually open to visitors on Monday and Thursday from 9am - 12 noon. We’ll be pleased to assist you in any way we can in the preparations for your wedding.

You might also like to explore the Church of England website Your Church Wedding which has a wealth of information.

Photography

A wedding service is an act of worship in the presence of God, and we ask both guests and official photographers to respect this. No photos are allowed within the service itself, except by the official photographer under strictly limited conditions. Guests are invited (if you wish) to take photos as you process down the aisle after the service. Prior permission must also be sought if you wish to video the service. One static video camera only is allowed - either at the rear of the church or unobtrusively in the side chapel. If the weather is bad on the day of your wedding, you are welcome to have your photographs taken inside the church.

Please see the photography and videography forms for details:

Photography Form

Videography Form

Hymns and Music

Please contact the Church Office if you would like an organist.
You will need to choose music for:

  • the entry of the bride
  • three hymns (usually)
  • the signing of the register
  • the exit of the bridal pair

The organist is happy to discuss options with you and assist you in your choice.

Flowers

The church flower arrangers are able to provide arrangements at a reasonable cost; the priest will be able to provide you any details.

You may prefer to choose your own florist or do it yourselves. Please inform the church office of your choice so we know what’s happening.

Wedding Flowers Form

Order of Service

Most couples like to have an order of service as they provide a memento of your special day and everything in one place for the convenience of your guests. If you are on a tight budget and you choose hymns which are in our hymn books, there is however, no need to produce one. The parish office can produce an order of service for you if you wish at very reasonable cost.

Order of Service Template

Wedding Rehearsal

The wedding rehearsal takes place in the church, normally the day before the wedding and takes roughly half an hour. As well as both the Bride and Groom, it’s advisable, if the following can also be present:

  • Best Man; Ushers - at least one of them;
  • Attendants: bridesmaids, matron of honour, pageboys;
  • Bride’s father (or whoever is accompanying the bride down the aisle);
  • Reader/s.

Confetti

A word about confetti ... in order to minimise the chances of littering the graves, we’d be very grateful if you’d ask your guests to throw confetti only outside the church gate, unless it’s real petals. It’s also worth encouraging them to use the bio-degradable variety.

Car parking

The wedding car/s can stop outside the church gate to deliver and collect the bridal party.
The church itself has no car park, but if you book Grayswood Village Hall you can use their car park which is opposite the church.

Please contact the Village Hall directly: www.grayswood.org.uk

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