St George's Church, Benenden

 

St George's Benenden is joined with St Nicholas' Sandhurst

as a Benefice led by the Rector, Revd David Commander

 

Weddings - in times of Covid19 restrictions

"I am sure you will be feeling very anxious regarding your wedding this year and whether to go ahead or postpone; wondering if you are allowed to go ahead or not; and, if you are allowed, then what is permitted?

It is possible for your wedding to go ahead in church, but only with the legal minimum numbers in attendance. (ie you two, the priest, and two witnesses.) This obviously has a huge impact on the people that you, naturally, would want to be at your wedding. If you wish to rearrange your day I will do everything to help you do so. If you have an underlying health condition you are strongly encouraged to postpone your wedding.

You will also need to decide what to do regarding any plans you had immediately following the service. You would need to speak to your venue about this.

If you have already paid any church fees, and are cancelling your wedding, then those fees will be repaid in full. If you are postponing your wedding we will work with you regarding a new date and the fees.

If you decide to go ahead with your wedding, it could be possible to have a "Marriage Blessing" at a future date when things have returned to normal. This would not be a re-run of your wedding, but a blessing of it. The wording of the service would be different, but we can still have music, hymns, poems, readings and prayers.

Before the wedding:

Any meetings should be done over the phone or video call. (WhatsApp is easy to do.) Where a face-to-face meeting is essential, then we will try to observe "social distancing".

Planning to go ahead:

If you wish to go ahead with your wedding - compliant with the legal minimum people: you two, the priest, and two witnesses (which means no organist, no bells) , then you might wish to think about how to allow others to "join the service"; either using platforms like Skype or WhatsApp or to record the service. (Bear in mind the mobile reception is poor in the church, and there is no Wi-Fi.)

As public worship has been suspended, it is not possible for Marriage Banns to be read. A Common Licence (or Special Licence) will need to be obtained. For this you need to see the local Surrogate - which happens to be me! (There is a fee of £200 for obtaining a Common Licence. At the moment I have had no advice that this fee has been suspended.)

I am here to support you and to ensure your wedding can go ahead, either on the original date (with the restrictions), or rearranging and finding another suitable date in the future. I am sorry that we are all having to consider these things and change the pans we had been working on. You remain in my prayers.

Keep well. Keep safe.

God bless,

David"

Page last updated: Saturday 21st March 2020 6:03 PM
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