Weddings

Contact the Parish administrator, Malcolm Godwin, in the Parish Office on 01908 611145 or email npparish@gmail.com. He will take your details and supply you with an information pack. You will then need to have a meeting so he can:

- gather details from you both about you and your wedding,

- agree a date with you,

- gather the information the church requires to legally conduct the wedding,

- explain what is involved in getting married at one of the churches in the Benefice, including the fees and the legal requirements.

You can marry in any of the four churches in the Benefice(St Peter & St Paul, St Luke’s, St Mary’s Moulsoe or All Saints Lathbury) if you can show that one of you:

- has at any time lived within the Benefice boundary (which includes the parishes of Newport Pagnell, Lathbury and Moulsoe) for a period of at least 6 months,

- was baptised (christened) in the Benefice,

- is confirmed and your confirmation was entered in the register of confirmations for a church or chapel in the Benefice,

- has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the Benefice for a period of at least 6 months.

or

That one of your parents, at any time after you were born:

- has lived in the Benefice (which includes the parishes of Newport Pagnell, Lathbury and Moulsoe) for a period of at least 6 months,

- has regularly gone to normal church services in the Benefice for a period of at least 6 months.

or

That one of your parents or grandparents:

- was married in the Benefice.

If you qualify to be married within the benefice of Newport Pagnell your wedding can take place in any of the four churches. St Peter & St Paul is the largest but if you are planning a small wedding, of less than 80 people, you can choose to be married in one of the smaller village churches or St Luke’s.

You can discuss this at your first meeting. Explore the four different churches here.

A second marriage can take place in church at the discretion of the Rector after a meeting with him. It is unlikely a second marriage will be refused but the Rector will chat this through with you.

The office will pass on to you a useful leaflet that gives all the church details you need to organise the above. The leaflet also gives you some background information. There is no need to contact anyone until the January of the year of your wedding.

We normally supply two pedestals of flowers for your wedding for an additional fee of £103, which are then left in church for the following week's services. You may also use your own florists or flower arrangers. We cannot guarantee to supply flowers for weekday weddings. For further information about flowers in church please contact June Weston (01908 618829).

Book the date for the wedding at the church FIRST before booking your reception and then we can start planning your wedding.

This wedding preparation is compulsory and is a requirement for both partners to attend by Church of England Canon Law. However, we make the session fun and informative!

Banns are a legal requirement, a means of ensuring that you are both free to marry. To have your banns published one of you needs to be resident in the Benefice of Newport Pagnell, be on the church Electoral Roll, or have a qualifying connection with the church and town. If you live together in the benefice only one set of banns is required. If either of you lives elsewhere you will also need to have the banns read in the parish church where you live. In this case you should contact the local parish priest to arrange it. When the banns have been read you will receive a banns certificate, which you must give to the minister marrying you. You do not need a registrar’s licence if your banns have been published.

In law they must be read out not less than three weeks and not more than three months before your wedding. In Newport Pagnell we normally read them on the 2nd,3rd and 4th Sundays of the month before your wedding (e.g. if you are marrying in June, the banns are read the 2nd,3rd and 4th Sundays in May). However, if you were marrying at the beginning of a month, we would normally read out your banns a month earlier (e.g. if you were marrying on 1st June, the banns would be read the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays in April). The Parish Administrator will write to you formally giving you the specific dates your banns will be read.

It is not essential, but if they were not read out in time there would be major problems in getting married. If you could not attend, it would be in your own interests to ask a representative to be present. In Newport Pagnell you will be able to come along to our Parish Church Sunday Service and hear your banns being read. These are happy occasions for you, your parents and the members of the congregation who will be praying for you both in the weeks surrounding your wedding. Being there will help you to feel more that the church is your home and not a vast space that you are renting out for your wedding!

About two months before the wedding, we send you an invoice for payment of fees.

The rehearsal usually takes place during the week before the wedding. The aim of the rehearsal is to help your wedding service be a happy and special occasion, helped by your being comfortable with what will happen during the service.

It is essential that the bride and groom are both present. The best man, chief bridesmaid and the person who is giving the bride away will find it very helpful to attend. You might also decide to ask others who are involved to attend.

The fees payable for weddings held during 2024 are:

- Statutory Fee £567

- Verger (arranging church for service) £53

- Flowers (two pedestals) £103

- Music fee £160

Optional Fees

- Video copyright fee for permission to make a video £105

- Bells £231

Heating ( October - April Weddings ) £80

A form requesting payment of these fees will be sent to you around two months before your wedding.