Congratulations!

You’re welcome to marry in church whatever your beliefs, whether or not you are baptised and whether or not you go to church. And marrying in church has never been easier thanks to a change in the law which means you have more churches to choose from.

For such a special day, we offer a special place. All you need to help you plan a personal, meaningful, spiritual and beautiful church wedding can be found on our dedicated website: www.yourchurchwedding.org

Use these links to go to popular pages:

Frequently Asked Questions about marrying in church. (Same link as above – just scroll down page).
Try our unique online Ceremony Planner to help you choose hymns and readings. You can even listen to hymns first.
Read about the new law which means you now have more churches to choose from.
For detailed guidance about the new Church of England Marriage Measures click here

You can marry in a CofE church if you can show:-

That one of you:

has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
was baptised in the parish concerned or
was prepared for confirmation in the parish or
has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or

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

has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or

That one of your parents or grandparents

was married in the Parish

And did you know…

If you move house you’re immediately connected to the church there? That means you can marry in the church of your new parish.
In all cases involving church services – i.e. going to normal church services, baptisms, confirmation or marriage – this applies only to Church of England services.
Even if you cannot demonstrate any of the above connections, we are always delighted if couples join us for services for six consecutive months at any time before the wedding. We expect one attendance per month. This has the great advantage of allowing a relationship to develop between the members of the congregation and the future husband and wife. Sometimes this becomes a permanent relationship

St Bartholomew’s, Tong

Requests for weddings should be addressed, in the first instance, to Wendy Aykroyd, telephone 01952 291532 (10am to 2pm) or e-mail admin@shifnalbenefice.org.uk