Step 1: requesting a marriage

The first step in arranging a wedding is to make a formal request. This is the process which determines whether or not you qualify, legally, to be married at St Johns. The following ‘qualifying connections' are legally recognised.

• Either the bride or groom was baptised at St John's.

• Either the bride or groom was confirmed within the Church of England, and was prepared for confirmation at St John's.

• Either the bride or groom has a parent or grandparent who was married at St John's.

• Either the bride or groom currently has their usual place of residence in the parish of St John's.

• Either the bride or groom has had their usual place of residence in the parish of St John's for at least 6 months at some stage during their life.

• Either the bride or groom has a parent who has had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months during the bride or groom's lifetime.

• Either the bride or groom has habitually attended public worship at Church of England services in the parish of St John's, Hillingdon for at least 6 months.

• Either the bride or groom has a parent who has habitually attended public worship at Church of England services in the parish of St John's, Hillingdon, for at least 6 months during the bride or groom's lifetime.

A couple who can claim one or more of these qualifying connections, need to contact the vicar or the parish office to ask for a ‘Marriage Request' form. The form can also be downloaded using the link below.

When the couple have returned the completed form, along with documents to support their claimed connections and an application fee of £50, we will process the claim and inform the couple, by post, whether or not they qualify to be married at St John's. Those couples who do qualify to be married, may then proceed to make a booking.

Step 2: booking your wedding

On Tuesday evenings, 6.30 - 7.30, we have our 'Office Hour' in the church building. You do not need to book an appointment; simply turn up.

It is possible to provisionally book a date and time and reserve it for one month while you make arrangements for your reception and other aspects of your wedding. When you have made those arrangements, you will need to return to ‘Office Hour' to make a formal booking.

The booking process involves filling in, and signing, a legally binding application form, and the payment of a deposit.

Step 3: arranging your wedding service

Your wedding is your wedding. We are only permitted to use a wedding service that is legally approved for marriage in the Church of England, but that leaves plenty of scope for you to personalise your own service. If you have unusual requests, please contact the vicar to discuss them.

You may return to the Tuesday evening ‘Office Hour' (6.30 - 7.30 in the church) at any stage to arrange the practical details of your wedding service. You will need to decide: whether you want an organist, choir, flowers, bells; and what music you want for entry, exit and during the service. These details need to be finalised, and the balance paid, at least two months before the wedding date.

Step 4: Banns of Marriage

Before you can get married, you need a legal license to do so. For most marriages in the Church of England, this is done by publishing ‘Banns of Marriage'. This is a series of three public announcements of your intention to marry, during Sunday morning worship. It is essential to make sure that all the legal requirements are in order. Without them, the marriage cannot take place.

Your banns need to be published in the local parish churches where each of you currently live, and also in the church where you are to be married. At St John's, banns are usually called in the month before the wedding. Different churches follow different patterns.

If you have booked a marriage at St John's, your banns will automatically be published at 11.00am on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Sundays of the month before your wedding. If either or both of you lives in another parish, you will need to contact the parish church and fill in a banns application form, at least two months before your wedding date. You will then need to collect a banns certificate after your banns have been published three times. There is a modest fee for this. We cannot legally marry you until we have seen this certificate.

Where you actually live is important for banns. They rely on strict geographical boundaries. If you are thinking of moving before your wedding, please make sure that you inform us. If banns are called incorrectly, it may not be possible for us to marry you. It is a good idea to be at the service when your banns are called, to make sure that they are called correctly. 

If either of you is not a UK citizen, you will need a ‘Common License' instead of banns. Please contact the Vicar for more information about this. It is not a complicated process.

Payment

We ask that you pay the balance by cheque, 2 months before your wedding date. Payment is made at ‘Office Hour' on Tuesday evenings (6.30 - 7.30). We are not able to accept cash payments.

You may find that the fee for your marriage service is a relatively small part of the overall cost of your wedding. You will also be aware that our charges are very small compared with the cost of renting other ancient and historic marriage venues.

St John's is not a business that makes a profit from conducting weddings. We are a registered charity whose primary aims are to proclaim the forgiving love of God and serve the spiritual needs of the people of Hillingdon. Our finances are entirely supported by voluntary donations from local people; we receive no grants from government or national church funds.

As we are only permitted to charge you for the actual costs of conducting your marriage, so we invite you to make a donation to represent the value, to you, of being married in such an ancient, beautiful and spiritual setting. Please make donation cheques payable ‘Hillingdon Church Account'.

Thank you.