IFMN Marriage - Finding Somewere to Marry

	Marriage - Finding Somewere to Marry

	Civil ceremonies
	If you are having a civil ceremony, you can marry in a Registrar’s Office or in a venue approved by the Registration Service, such as a hotel or a stately home, which will usually offer a package including catering. Local Registrar’s Offices have a list of approved premises in their areas. You’ll find much more information on the Registry Office website www.gro.gov.uk

	Religious ceremonies
	If you wish to marry by religious ceremony other than in the Church of England or the Church in Wales, you should first arrange to see the person in charge of marriages at the building. However, the church or religious building in question must normally be in the registration district in which you or the other party live. It will also be necessary for both of you to give formal notice of your marriage to the Superintendent Registrar of the district(s) where you live. You should make sure that the place of worship is approved as a marriage venue by the local registrar (your local Registrar’s Office will be able to tell you whether it is). If it isn’t, you need to book a Registrar from the district where the marriage is to take place to be present at the ceremony, or to have a separate registry wedding in order to ensure that the marriage is registered. Not doing so could mean your marriage isn’t recognised in law.

	Roman Catholic ceremonies
	For a Roman-Catholic wedding involving an unbaptised partner - ie a non-Christian – you need a dispensation for Disparity of Cult from the Bishop or his representative. The priest who will perform the ceremony will explain what conditions, promises and agreements will be expected.

	Church of England or Church in Wales ceremony
	You have the right to marry in the parish church where one of you lives or have your name on the electoral roll. (There are a few exceptions to the right to marry in your parish church. The most important one in practice is if one if you is divorced and your former spouse is still alive.) If you want to marry at another Anglican church currently you need an Archbishop of Canterbury’s Special Licence (applied for with the support of the minister of the church where you wish to marry). There is a new Measure, however which will be enacted into law in late 2008, which provides for a couple to have the same right to marry, without the need for a Special Licence, in the parish church of a parish with which one or both of them can show that he or she has a “qualifying connection” of a kind specified in the new Measure.

	To marry in an Anglican church in England or Wales you do not need to be a church-goer, or even to be baptised – two people who are not Christians could, if they wanted, get married in their local Anglican church. It may be possible for a minister of a different faith to take part in the service. You should be aware though that the Church of England service is set down by law, and that while you can ask the vicar to add prayers or readings from another tradition to the service, there are certain words which cannot be removed, including some of the prayers and blessings which are Trinitarian (‘In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’). For a wedding in the Church of England, you should first contact the vicar, who will want to talk to you about your plans and who may offer marriage preparation.

	Information about marriages in different Christian denominations
	Roman Catholic Church: Mixed marriages http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk/faith/living/documents/MixedMarriagesCBCEW30.4.1990.pdf Church of England http://www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/weddings Interfaith marriages in the Church of England http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/interfaith/marriageguidelines Anglican Church in Wales http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/Llandaff/weddings.htm Church of Scotland http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/downloads/wplifemarriagefaqs.doc Orthodox Churches http://interfaith.goarch.org/irp.asp Quaker wedding ceremonies http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/quakers_7.shtml Methodist ceremonies http://www.methodist.org.uk/static/factsheets/fs_marriage.htm

	Jewish ceremonies
	If one partner is Jewish, you can not marry in a synagogue but you may be able to have a Jewish blessing ceremony conducted by a friend or an independent rabbi after a legal marriage. Rabbis who have pastoral responsibility for communities will not normally perform blessings for mixed marriages, although if the Jewish partner is a faithful member of a congregation, the rabbi may make an exception and conduct a private blessing ceremony. The blessing could be indoors or outdoors under the Chuppah (wedding canopy) and you may wish to include other elements such as the seven traditional blessings, or the groom breaking the wine-glass under his foot. http://www.rabbi.eu.com/page3/page3.html

	Muslim ceremonies
	http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/ritesrituals/weddings_3.shtml http://www.irshadmanji.com/news/interfaith-marriage.html (this gives liberal Islamic support for Islamic marriage ceremonies with non-muslim partner) http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/sscategory.asp?scatid=97

	Hindu ceremonies
	http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/ritesrituals/weddings.shtml

	Sikh ceremonies
	http://www.sikhs.org/wedding http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/ritesrituals/weddings.shtml Sikh-interfaith ceremony http://www.beliefnet.com/story/145/story_14584_1.html Sikh-Christian wedding http://www.ministrymatters.ca/1999/fall/mm05.html

	Buddhist ceremonies
	http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/pdf/weddingceremonyeditedkm.pdf

	Interfaith ceremonies
	http://www.theinter-faithseminary.com Explains the training and ethos of interfaith ministers, and what to expect in a ceremony. http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/default.aspx?UserName=labayonet Lots of different accounts of interfaith weddings http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk/university/brhistory/index7.html a brief history of marriage in UK

	Finding a minister
	Mixed faith couples are often understandably anxious about how they will be received by ministers of religion when they approach them about a marriage ceremony. It’s true to say that there are some who are likely to be more able or willing to accommodate you than others, perhaps because they are more familiar with the issues involved or because of their theological stance. For suggestions about finding a minister of religion for a ceremony in the UK contact us.