There are some fairly complicated rules which govern whether & how you can be married in a particular parish church. If you live in the Deptford area and would like to enquire, please do contact Steve who will be happy to help you through the maze. We want to marry you if we possibly can! The information on this page is only here as a starter: if in doubt, do call us on the number at the bottom of each page of this website.
First of all, in order to be married either at St. Nick's or St. Luke's, one or other of you usually needs to live in the parish. The red line in the map below shows the parish boundary.
If you neither of you lives in the parish, you can still be married within the parish if you are on the electoral roll of the church. Please note that this is not the same electoral roll as the roll maintained by the council. Membership of the church's electoral roll is possible if have have been participating habitually in public worship in the parish for six months or more. This is to enable people who are part of the life of a church in a parish to be married there, even if they live outside that parish.
If neither of you lives in the parish and you are not on the electoral roll, then in the first place you need to contact the vicar of your local church. Click here for a very helpful website which will help you to identify the parish in which you live. However, if you intend to be married after 1st October 2008 it is worth giving Steve a call, because some additional qualifying conditions will come into force then.
Before you can be married, a "legal preliminary" must take place to make sure there are no legal reasons why you may not be married.
If you both hold a British passport, this is done by the Calling of Banns, an ancient procedure in which your intention to marry is announced in the Sunday morning service for three consecutive weeks. If no legal objections are raised, then you may be married. If one or other of you lives outside the parish then you must also have your Banns called in your local parish church. Your local vicar will then provide you with a Banns certificate, at a cost of £34.00, which we will need to see before the wedding can take place.
If one or other of you does not hold a British passport, then the legal preliminary is not the Calling of Banns. Instead, you will need to obtain either a Common Licence or a Superintendent Registrar's Certificate, depending on your circumstances. This can be a little complicated, so please do make an appointment to see Steve, who will help you work out the right way forward.
If one of you is divorced, or if both of you are, it may still be possible in certain circumstances to have your marriage service in church. It is usually much easier to work this out if you are already in a pastoral relationship with the church. Even if it is not possible to marry you in church, we can offer you a Service of Blessing after a Civil Marriage. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this.
There are two basic costs involved in getting married. The first is the cost of the legal preliminary (see Banns and Licenses, above). The second is the cost of the service itself. The cost of the service is summarized in the table below.
| Marriage Service | £260.00 |
| Use of building | £56.50 |
| Verger | £25.00 |
| Organist | £70.00 |
| Marriage Certificate | £3.50 |
| Total | £415.00 |
Please note that these are the figures for 2010. If you're planning to get married in 2011 then they will be slightly higher. If you intend to have your service videoed then the cost of the organist is an additional £40.00. If you're looking for a cheaper wedding, then you can save on the organist's fee by asking us not to book one, and we will happily conduct a more simple service for you.
If you would like to have the church decorated with flowers for your wedding service, or if you would like a choir or a band, or any other extras, then you will need to organise these things yourselves, but we are more than happy to accomodate you. Please feel free to discuss your wishes with us.
This is about arriving on time! Whilst it is appreciated that it is traditional for the bride to be a few minutes late entering the church, anything longer than ten minutes is very inconvenient for all those involved in the wedding service, and will of course have an impact on any weddings being held later in the day. To the best of your ability, please ensure that you arrive at the right time. In very extreme cases, where lateness of bride or groom has caused the wedding service not to have started thirty minutes, or more, after the scheduled time, the vicar and churchwardens will have the right to cancel the wedding forthwith, without any reimbursement of fees.
The notes above are only intended as an introduction. We believe very much in the personal touch, and would encourage you to get in touch with us if you're thinking of getting married. We will assist you in every way we can.