{"id":96,"date":"2013-12-16T19:23:24","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T18:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dcnewton.co.uk\/stjames\/?page_id=96"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:22:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:22:50","slug":"weddings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/?page_id=96","title":{"rendered":"Weddings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">You\u2019re Getting Married? \u2013 Congratulations!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/your-church-wedding.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"136\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/your-church-wedding-300x136.jpg\" alt=\"your church wedding\" class=\"wp-image-150\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/your-church-wedding-300x136.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/your-church-wedding.jpg 403w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As Christians we believe that marriage is a gift from God and we think there is no better place to get married than in church. By marrying in church a couple makes their public declaration of their lifelong loving commitment to each other in front of God as well as family and friends.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Being married gives you a legal status as husband and wife. We believe that marriage offers an ideal place for the fulfilment of our sexuality and a secure and stable environment to bring up children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Marriage is good for you! <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4m.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C4M2303_Evidence-of-the-benefits-of-marriage.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here&#8217;s a short summary of the benefits that marriage brings<\/a><\/strong>, both for you and your partner, and for any children you have together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Where Can We Get Married?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">If you would like to enquire about being married at St. James&#8217; or St. Peters church,&nbsp; please come along to one of our Sunday services and have a chat with&nbsp;one of the clergy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To get married at St James\u2019 you need to be able to demonstrate a connection to the church. The laws governing who is eligible to get married in a particular church were changed in Oct 2008 so that there are more ways you can&nbsp;prove a qualifying connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">You are eligible to marry here if&nbsp;<em>any<\/em>&nbsp;of the following apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">a) You live in the parish of Preston Plucknett. To check this&nbsp;<a title=\"http:\/\/www.achurchnearyou.com\/parishmap.php\" href=\"http:\/\/www.achurchnearyou.com\">click here&nbsp;<\/a>and enter your postcode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">b) You have attended St James&#8217; or St. Peter&#8217;s regularly for over 6 months and can therefore apply to be on the electoral roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">c) You were baptised (\u2018christened\u2019) or confirmed&nbsp;in the parish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">d) Your parents or grand-parents were married at St. James\u2019 or St. &nbsp;Peter\u2019s Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">e) You (or any of your parents during your lifetime) have lived within the parish for a period&nbsp;of&nbsp;more than 6 months<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">f)&nbsp; You&nbsp;or your parents have regularly worshipped within the parish (either more than 3 times a year for many years or at least once a month for 6 months).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">If you do not qualify under any of the above criteria, there may be other options which would enable you to marry at here. Please contact the church office (01935 414097), who will be able to advise you on possible ways forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Marriage Preparation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">You can find plenty of helpful information about organising a wedding in a Church of England church on the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.yourchurchwedding.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.yourchurchwedding.org<\/a>&nbsp;website. The site gives a complete guide to the service as well as answering the questions you may have. It also contains links to information about music and readings suitable for the big day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">We believe that a strong marriage results from people investing time and energy in their relationship. In a time when there is a lot of pressure upon marriage and family life, we want to give couples the best start possible to the wonderful adventure of marriage. Lots of time and effort often goes into planning the Big Day, but it\u2019s even more important to invest in your relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The <strong>Marriage Preparation Course<\/strong> (<a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/relationshipcentral.org\/marriage-preparation-course\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/relationshipcentral.org\/marriage-preparation-course<\/a>), which usually runs over 5 sessions in January-March, is offered to all couples who are getting married in the parish, or having their Banns read here. It covers a range of important subjects, from communication to resolving conflict, via in-laws and expectations. When we ask couples to rate the course, the average score is 9 out of 10! <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=ZPWicyGf9AU\">This short promo<\/a> gives an idea of what the course covers, and why it&#8217;s important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For more information, please contact the Parish Office (414097)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Fees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Please find below a guide to the current (2026) fees for a wedding at St James&#8217;.\u00a0 Please note that the statutory fees are set each year by the Church of England and the additional fees are reviewed annually by our Parochial Church Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><u><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Statutory fees<\/span> <\/u><\/strong> <em>set by the Church of England<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table has-medium-font-size\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Marriage Service<\/td><td>\u00a3566<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Publication of Banns<\/td><td>\u00a339<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Banns Certificate (if required)*<\/td><td>\u00a320<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">*<em>If you are getting married outside your home parish, your Banns will need to be read at both your parish church and the church where you are getting married.  You will only require a certificate from the parish church and not from the church where you are marrying).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><u><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Additional fees <\/span><\/u><\/strong><em> set by the church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table has-medium-font-size\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Verger<\/td><td>\u00a350<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Heating (October-May)<\/td><td>\u00a375<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Optional extras<\/span><\/strong> <em>fees set by the church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table has-medium-font-size\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Organist (fees dependent on individual organist)<\/td><td>\u00a350-100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bells<\/td><td>\u00a3150<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Flowers (a basic pedestal arrangement left in church)<br>*recommended minimum donation<\/td><td>\u00a360*<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re Getting Married? \u2013 Congratulations! As Christians we believe that marriage is a gift from God and we think there is no better place to get married than in church. By marrying in church a couple makes their public declaration of their lifelong loving commitment to each other in front of God as well as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3106,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-96","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5603,"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96\/revisions\/5603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stjamesyeovil.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}