Thank you for considering being married at the Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul. What you are undertaking in marriage is a serious business and for this reason it is essential that we comply with both canon (church) and civil law.
Legal Requirements
You must have a valid marriage license to be married in church unless you have already been married civilly and are seeking a blessing on your union.
If either partner has been divorced, you need to ask permission of the rector of the Church to be married. The aim of this regulation is to assist you in preparation for remarriage. You will need to apply at least two or three months before the date of the wedding in time for the forms to be processed by the Rector of the parish. Please find outlined some of our expectations:
- Please see the minister at least six months prior to the proposed date of marriage. If either party is divorced the preparation may take longer.
- Either the bride or groom must be baptized (please present a copy of your Baptismal Certificate.)
- Marriage preparation at an approved course is required. Please contact the Church office for the various options.
- A marriage information form is to be filled in at the time of your initial meeting with the Rector or his designate.
Music
All music arrangements must be made with the Church organist or designate (phone number on request from rector). Please read the enclosed section on “Music for Your Wedding”.
At the time of reserving the Church, please forward a cheque in the amount of one hundred dollars as a non-refundable deposit. (This will count as part of your fees.)
Flowers
There are always flowers on the Altar before Sunday. If you would like to add other flowers be sure to check with the Church office about the time of delivery on the morning of your wedding.
Rehersals
It is usual to have a rehearsal for the ceremony. These are usually held on the Thursday or Friday evening prior to a Saturday wedding.
Please deliver your marriage license to the office at least one week prior to the service, along with the information needed for your wedding service leaflet. At the same time, please pay the fees outlined below. If paying by cheque, make it payable to The Parish of St. Peter & St. Paul.
Music for Your Wedding
The Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul enjoys a high standard of traditional Church music at it’s services and our aim is to extend this excellence to the weddings which take place here for these, too, are public acts of worship. We hope that this will provide a setting of dignity and respect as you exchange your vows.
Instruments
The Parish of St. Peter & St. Paul has a pipe organ which does admirable justice to some of the greatest organ music. We also have a fine grand piano. In most cases, the music at weddings is played on the organ but it is perfectly appropriate to have suitable music played on the piano. Sometimes people like to have other instrumentalists or request music for, say, flute or violin and piano or organ. Please note that in these circumstances, we must be sure that the musicians (if they are unknown to us) are of adequate proficiency.
Choice of Music
Our organist will usually play suitable music on the organ for ten to fifteen minutes prior to the service. Specially selected music will also be played as the Bride walks down the aisle, during the Signing of the Register, and as the Bride and Groom leave at the end of the service. If you have specific requests for these selections please arrange to speak with the Director of Music at least one month prior to your wedding (except as noted in the previous section). He has a very large repertoire but there is a chance that you may request something that he has either not played in the past or does not have in his library.
Two considerations then arise: Is the sheet music readily available? Will it be able to be learned in time? If the answer to these is negative we may have to negotiate some alternatives!
Years ago, organ music at weddings was very predictable: brides came down the aisle to the “Bridal March” from the opera “Lohengrin” by Richard Wagner and couples usually left to the “Wedding March” from a “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Felix Mendelssohn. These pieces are rarely heard these days but they hallowed by tradition and are available. Then there are perennial favourites like “Jesu, joy of man’s desiring” and “Air in D”, both by Bach, that are often heard during the Signing of the Register. Apart from these, there are literally hundreds of pieces that are suitable. Usually, however, the choices for the processions in and out of the church are from various pieces of a rather stately, ceremonial nature including “trumpet tunes” and “trumpet voluntaries” the most well known of which are by Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell.
The Director of Music will be pleased to present a small sampling of some of these – or, you can leave the choices to him if you wish. If this is your wish please let him know – again, in good time. Finally, the choice of music must be in keeping with the tradition and dignity of the church. Sometimes people want to hear favorite popular song or instrumental number. Please bear in mind that this music is not usually intended for performance on either pipe organ or a grand piano and that the result fails to do justice to the music! The Director of Music is a fan of bands like U2 and almost anything from the world of jazz but not on the pipe organ! Music performed in a modern recording studio with all the electric enhancements and instrumental/vocal backing that is often involved cannot be reproduced in a church. Therefore we suggest that these choices are best left for you to enjoy at your reception where the DJ’s sound equipment will give a far more satisfactory result. Hymns You may wish to include in your service, which is still a tradition in some places. However, it is wise to ask yourself, “are the people attending the wedding familiar with hymns, and will they participate in the singing?” If not, you may end up with a duet between the priest and the organist! Our advice, then, is not to include them unless a goodly proportion of your guests are church members.
Please read this information carefully. If you have any questions about the music for your wedding please call the church office 250-386-6833.
Prayer for Engaged Couples
Lord Jesus Christ, who by your presence and power brought joy to the wedding at Cana; bless those engaged to be married, that there may be the truth at the beginning of their lives together, unselfishness all the way, and perseverance to the end. May their hopes be realized and their love for each other deepen and grow, that through them your name may be glorified. Amen.