A husband and wife can have their marriage blessed in church, whether they got married in the UK or abroad. For couples who marry abroad, it can be a way of ensuring more family and friends can celebrate the marriage if they were unable to travel to another country for the legal marriage.
It is a simple service acknowledging the commitment already made between husband and wife during a civil ceremony and asks for God’s blessing and guidance in your new life together.
Because it is not a marriage service, banns are not required, there is no exchange of rings and there is no signing of the Register.
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 may be some costs, such as flowers, bells and use of an organist. These would be charged at the church’s local rate.
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.
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.
Renewal of Vows
It’s possible to renew your wedding vows any time after your wedding day, regardless of whether you had a church wedding or not. It’s a bit like a marriage refresher and is often used on special anniversaries, or even after a period of difficulty in a marriage.The Church of England ceremony is called ‘Thanksgiving for marriage’.
Some couples have used it in other ways, for example if they want to have a low key civil wedding, or a civil wedding abroad, but still want a significant church service for family and friends at home. It can be designed to be intimate or grand, or could even be part of one of the church’s usual Sunday services.
It’s possible to have this service in any church of your choice, providing the church and the vicar are free. It is also possible to have it in a venue other than a church building, providing the vicar taking the service is happy with that.
There is no required (statutory) legal fee for this ceremony, but it’s quite likely there will be some costs. The vicar may make a charge for the service itself, to cover use of the building etc, and if you have extras like the church organist, flowers or the help of a verger, then these will incur some cost at the church’s usual rate. Ask in advance to check if there are going to be any fees involved for the kind of service you want.
Rings can be blessed as part of this service too, either your existing wedding rings, or perhaps you have special rings, like eternity rings.
