Weddings
From the beginning it has been recognised that love between two people is a precious gift which needs to be "recognised, celebrated and protected" from all that world harm and undermine the fundamental purpose of Christian Marriage.
We hope you will choose us to be a part of the relationship you are building that will take a lifetime to mature. Our team of clergy and lay helpers will carefully you towards the right ingredients for a wedding day that will provide shape and direction for the rest of your lives together.
The Reverend Stuart J Foster
Team Rector & Chaplain to His Grace, The Duke of Rutland.
1. The Wedding Ceremony
The wedding ceremony is a public declaration of your love for each other and a statement of your ongoing commitment to each other. It will give you a new legal status as husband and wife and a new stability within which your relationship can grow and flourish.
When you choose to get married in a church you are saying that you want god to be part of your relationship. The Bible is full of references to love and Christians believe that the love you have for each other is a reflection of God's love for all people on earth. Our preparation courses will guide you through some of this teaching with the hope that our guidelines will be a source of encouragement towards a life long and life loving relationship.
Including God in your marriage doesn't mean that you will necessary avoid all the ups and downs, but you will know that you can look to him for help and guidance and that his love will sustain you in years to come. You will also have the support and encouragement of the Christian church family who prepared you for marriage.
2. Getting Married in Church
You are entitled to be married in the Parish Church where either one of your lives, or where you regularly worship or have membership. If you would like to have your wedding at a church not in your parish it may still be possible and you minister will advise.
To make your church wedding legal you have to have your Banns read out in church for three consecutive Sundays, during the three months preceding the wedding you may also require to have a Common License or an Archbishop's License. We will advise. Banns (an announcement of your intention to marry) have to be read in the parish in which one of you is resident as well as at the church in which you are to be married. We will advise you of this.
Costs for a church wedding vary from year to year (the current scale of fees will be included as an insert in this leaflet*) and will include a fee to the Church and optional fees. See leafletfor
Organist*
Choir*
Bells*
Flowers* (provided by our highly talented and experienced team of flower arrangers).
The Wedding Experience can be increased with one of our options of Champagne and Canaps (costs by arrangement) for guest as wedding photographs are being taken or as guests arrive.
Photographic Opportunities exist along the banks of the River Devon that meanders its way around the church and at the ancient Flemings Bridge which marks the entrance to the church porch - a preferred route for many brides as their entrance towards the church.
Belvoir Castle (see www.belvoircastle.com) is ancestral home of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland. There has been a castle on this site for over 1000 years. The Castle offers a range of options for your Reception, as does the Manners Arms, Knipton - originally built for the 6th Duke of Rutland as a Hunting Lodge and lived in by family members until the 1950s.
Local Restaurants in the Village of Bottesford provide a wide range of services - details can be provided.