A Marriage Service in Church offers the opportunity for a family and community celebration. We work hard at Gosforth Parish Church to try to ensure that you have the day and ceremony that you imagined.
Here is some information to help you:
Music
· You do not HAVE to have any music at all!
· We have a splendid choir and a marvellous organ - but both choir and organist do have to be booked well in advance - the choir is not always available.
· As a guide line: you need some music for the bride to enter and some for you both to leave by. It is good to have at least one hymn. Quite often we have three hymns; one at the start of the service, one during the signing of the registers (or a piece of music played by the organ) and one at the end of the service. If you choose not to sing hymns you might want to ask for a piece to be played during the signing of the registers. If you would like some help thinking of hymns please don't hesitate to ask.
Flowers
· We have some excellent flower people who will be happy to discuss your requirements.
Order of Service
· The order of service contains a basic outline of the service together with the details of the music and words of the hymns - we can let you see examples from previous weddings if you might find this useful.
Ushers and seating
· We can seat 255 guests comfortably.
· You need at least two ushers who can welcome your guests and look after their general wellbeing. If you choose to offer your guests a glass of prosecco after the service your ushers should be on hand to serve the drinks.
Photography
· After the service guests may take as many photos etc. as they wish.
· Please appoint an official photographer (it need not be a professional) who can take photographs before and after the service and as the newly married couple come down the aisle.
· You may not take photographs during the actual signing of the registers . Instead we can arrange for photographs to be taken of the “signing” immediately afterwards - you will be much more relaxed then and the photos will look much happier!
· If you want to record the Service there is a legal copyright fee involved.
· Both photographer and video person will need to discuss where to stand etc with a church official.
You might like to think about the following:
· write a prayer together which the Vicar uses during the service
· have a friend or family member read from the Bible during the service
- choose a non-Biblical reading which is important to you both - again it can be read by a friend.
· invite two people to witness the signing of the register ( this is a legal requirement - most often it is the best man and chief bridesmaid but a witness can be any adult)
Confetti
· By all means encourage your guests to throw confetti, we are a happy celebratory sort of church.
FOR MORE INFORMATION please contact Fr Paul on 0191 285 1326 or paul.baker89@outlook.com
