Weddings at St Nicholas'

Here’s how to get the best out of the church for your wedding:

In some detail here

In a nutshell here

FAQs here

Back to St Nicholas'

The Detail

We would love you to have your wedding at St Nicholas'. Helping you along in your happiest times is one of the things we are here for.

However, arranging a wedding can be a fairly fraught business at the best of times. There are a lot of different people to get synchronised and that can be a problem.

The church is one area where things can get tangled. The problem is not so much the church building itself as the availability of clergy to officiate at the wedding. These days clergy are very, very thin on the ground. However, they do understand the problems of getting it all together, probably better than anyone else. So if you want a largely trouble free way of arranging a wedding, here’s what to do:

Decide on the general time you want to get married. E.g. “as soon as possible”, ”in about three months time”, “ next year”, “sometime next summer”, “as close as possible to July 23rd”. You get the idea. You’ll probably have some idea of the venue you want for your reception and what you want to do for a honeymoon. If you wish, get information about the general availability of those things, but don’t be bullied into making even a provisional booking at this stage.

Check with the Rector what is available in that sort of time frame. He will be happy to give you a number of options and to pencil in particular dates. More importantly he will be able to tell you what is not available. Many clergy, like other people, are tied to school holidays for their own breaks. Most have other things to do on Saturdays apart from weddings and all year round there are festivals and open days which can limit the availability of both buildings and clergy. So you can see the importance of being a bit flexible at this stage. A complication that we have to cope with is that churches and clergy find it very difficult to be booked up more than a year ahead – in fact the further in the future, the more difficult – but reception venues often want to be arranged much further ahead than that. We do have to struggle with this problem and it takes a bit of understanding on both sides to sort it out.

Once you have a provisional date or dates for the church and clergy you can try to firm up reception and honeymoon. If this proves a problem you at least have an idea of other possible dates as far as church is concerned and the clergy won’t mind in the slightest if you come back and want to shift date or time to one of the other possibilities.

The crucial thing not to do is to book up reception and honeymoon and then expect church to fit in with that. That can rarely be done.

So, if you want to get married at St Nicholas', get in touch with the Rector first. Asking someone you know like the Church Secretary or one of the Wardens will only slow things down because they have to pass the contact on to the Rector, If the first phone contact doesn’t work very quickly, write a letter! Email is not a very sure way of communicating in this case.

The Revd Bob Emm, The Rectory, Church Lane, North Thoresby, Grimsby, DN36 5QG
Telephone: 01472 840029

FAQs

• Who can be married at St Nicholas'?

Provided you are single, over the age of 16 and have a "Qualifying Connection" you can be married at St Nicholas'

 

• What is the legal procedure if we meet the above criteria?

In such circumstances your marriage would normally be by reading the banns.  That means your names must be read out in the church on three Sundays before the wedding, and this legal requirement is knows as publishing the banns of marriage.
In addition when one or both of you reside outside the boundaries of this parish your banns of marriage must be published in (both) the parish church(es) where you and your fianceé(e) reside.

• Are there other means of qualifying for marriage at St Nicholas'?

If it is not possible for you to meet these qualifications for a marriage by banns, there are circumstances in which other forms of qualification can be considered.  Please speak to the Rector to find out more.

 

• How much does a wedding at St Nicholas' cost?

For every wedding that takes place in a Church of England church,  a statutory fee is payable.  In addition there is a fixed amount payable to the Organist and should you require them, the Bell Ringers.  Details of the current charges for a wedding can be obtained from the Rector or the church officers. At present a wedding costs between £270 and £450 according to what you want.

 

• What is the position if one or both of us is divorced?

The church upholds the view that marriage is for life but it also recognises that marriages do break down.  Consequently, if a person has been divorced and their previous spouse is still alive, we can generally help, but you need to talk to the Rector.

 

• Do I have to be married on a Saturday?
   

No. Traditionally most people are married on a Saturday, but marriages may legally take place at any time between the hours of 8am and 6pm. Days other than Saturdays are always easier to fit in.

Weddings at St Nicholas' in a Nutshell

We would love you to have your wedding at St Nicholas'.

• Decide on the general time you want to get married.

• Check with the Rector what is available in that sort of time frame.

• Once you have a provisional date or dates for the church and clergy you can try to firm up reception and honeymoon.

• The crucial thing not to do is to book up reception and honeymoon and then expect church to fit in with that. That can rarely be done.

• So, if you want to get married at St Nicholas', get in touch with the Rector first. If the first phone contact doesn’t work very quickly, write a letter! Email is not a very sure way of communicating in this case.
  
  The Revd Bob Emm, The Rectory, Church Lane, North Thoresby, Grimsby, DN36 5QG
  Telephone: 01472 840029