Weddings

You can download our Getting Married at Swaythling Parish  for weddings

Weddings are conducted at St Mary’s, South Stoneham and St Alban’s, Burgess Road. They are usually on Saturdays, but other days are sometimes possible by arrangement.

You can get married at St Mary’s or St Albans if you live in the Parish of Swaythling, or if you have a Qualifying Connection (see below).  To check whether either you or your fiance live in the Parish, you can put your postcode in the a church near you website, which will tell you which your parish church is.   

Qualifying Connection

If you do not live in the Parish, but wish to get married at St Mary’s or St Alban’s, you may be able to do so if you have a qualifying connection.  These are defined in law as follows;

A person has a Qualifying Connection with a parish if: that person:

  • was baptised in the parish. (NB this does not apply where the baptism formed part of a combined service of baptism or confirmation);
  • or had his or her confirmation entered in a church register book of a church or chapel in the parish;
  • or has at any time had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months;
  • or has at any time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months;
  • or a Parent of that person has at any time during that person’s lifetime: had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months;
  • or habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months;
  • or a Parent or Grandparent of that person was married in the parish.

If you have any questions about Qualifying Connection, please speak to one of the Clergy, or to the Church office.

 

Planning your wedding

The website www.yourchurchwedding.org has some great resources to help you plan your wedding, and gives a lot more details about getting married in a Church.

Planning your Service

You can use the Church of England wedding service planner to get ideas for your service, including suggestions for readings, prayers and hymns. You may already know what you wish to do here. However, to help you along the way we have available lots of suggestions for you to look at. Please ask for this when you make initial contact.

Fees for your Wedding

The Wedding Fee is set by the Church of England, and the cost in 2023 is £564 – this includes the reading of the Banns, the Wedding rehearsal and the Wedding Service.    There may be some additional costs depending on what you choose for your wedding, such as service sheets, the ringing of the church bells, etc.    Please contact the Office for the current list of fees. 

Due to changes in the way weddings are registered, the wedding certificate is now issued by the Registry Office (and not by the Church), after the wedding,  – there is an additional fee (of £11 in 2022) for this, payable to the Registry Office at time of application.