WEDDINGS
Marriage at Saint Andrew’s
Congratulations on your engagement! We would be delighted to discuss the possibility of you being married at Saint Andrew’s. To be married at St.Andrew’s you need to either:
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Be on our Electoral Roll.
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Or have a Qualifying Connection with the parish.
To have a Qualifying Connection with the parish one of you must:
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have been Baptised in the parish.
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had your confirmation entered in the Church Register
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had your usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months
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have habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months.
or have a Parent who has at any time during your lifetime:
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had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months
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habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months
or a Parent or Grandparent who was married in the parish.
Please click here to download an Initial Enquiry Form and click here to download a Banns Application Form. If you have a Qualifying Connection to the parish do mention this in your Initial Enquiry Form. Please complete the two forms and send them to:-
Saint Andrew’s Parish Office, Church Road,
Ham Common, Richmond, Surrey TW10 5HG
This is a very helpful website for planning your wedding and church ceremony – Your Church Wedding.
Every Minister is under a legal duty to be satisfied that you can lawfully marry in the parish before the marriage can take place or a firm date and time can be fixed for it. The minister will want to meet with you on several occasions to plan the ceremony. These will usually be weekday daytime meetings. In addition to this there will be an evening rehearsal near to the date of the wedding.
Optional Marriage Preparation
A wedding is more than just planning a celebration, it's about a lifetime together. Many couples have benefited enormously from marriage preparation. You can arrange an extra informal meeting with the Vicar to talk about the wider subjects of marriage, family and nurturing a relationship. Or you can look for an organisation that offers preparation, such as the weekends organised by a charity called Engaged Encounter. These weekends are free (you are invited to make a voluntary contribution) and are great for couples who want their relationship to grow and deepen. They give an opportunity to think through possible areas of difficulty and how you will handle them positively as a couple.
To discover more about the Engaged Encounter weekends please click this link to their website: engagedencounter.org.uk
Banns Only
If you are getting married at a church other than Saint Andrew’s and need your banns to be called at Saint Andrew’s because one or both of you live within the parish (please check you live within the parish by visiting achurchnearyou.com and typing in your postcode), please click here to download a Banns Application Form – Being Married Elsewhere.
Please complete the form in BLOCK CAPITALS and return it, together with a SAE and a cheque for the statutory fee of £46.00 payable to ‘The PCC of St Andrews Ham (Fees)’ to: St Andrew’s Parish Office, Church Road, Ham, Richmond TW10 5HG.
Once we have received your application we will email you to let you know the dates your banns will be called. We warmly invite you to come along and hear your banns read at our 10.15am Sunday service. They will be read for three consecutive Sundays within a three month period before your marriage and we require at least 7 days notice before the commencement of calling banns. After the three callings we will issue you with a certificate which must be given to the minister officiating at your wedding. This will be sent to you by post in the SAE that you supply.