Blessings
St Mary’s welcomes couples who would like to enjoy a blessing in our beautfiful church.
Blessings are a simple service acknowledging the commitment already made during a civil ceremony and asks for God's blessing and guidance in your new life together.
The Church of England service is called a Service of Prayer and Dedication, which is often known as ‘a blessing’.
Because it is not a marriage service, banns are not required, there is no exchange of rings and there is no signing of the official marriage paperwork during the service.
It can be designed to have a similar feel to a wedding with hymns, readings, flowers and even bells if you would like that, or it can be an intimate, low key service. The service itself has no statutory fee (because it is not a legal service) but there are costs assocaited with certain aspects, such as flowers, bells, organist, streaming etc…
You can have a blessing in any church of your choice, so long as the church and the vicar are free on your preferred date; you do not need to have a qualifying connection to a church to have a blessing there.
We do not conduct blessings during Lent or Advent
Many couples have opted for this service where one or both of them is remarrying after divorce. If this is your situation, talk things through with your vicar who can offer guidance on remarrying in church or having a blessing.
You may also like to hire our contemporary hall for a celebration afterwards, click here for further details.
