# Registry Office vs Church Wedding



## xLaurax

Hi Ladies,

Sorry if this has been done before.

I am due to make a payment to our registry office tomorrow for our wedding, and after speaking to my auntie she advised me to phone the church as registry office fees have risen.

Registry Office Wedding £199
Church Wedding £287.50 + any extras we want.

I have a dilema, i have always wanted a church wedding but after so many people telling me it cost a bomb i was put off. Now i really want a church wedding, the pics would be amazing and as its in our village its not far to get to the venue.

Help me lol, what would you do in this situation? xxx


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## slb80

It is a hard one hun, I am getting married at a registry office but I have never had any dreams of a church wedding so for me I just went with the cheapest option. 

Your best bet would be to work out how much the extras will cost you and then see if you can do it with your budget


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## booflebump

If cost isn't an issue, and you want a religious ceremony, then go for it. Church of England sometimes need you to a pre-marriage course, bear that in mind if you only want the church for pretty pictures x


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## xLaurax

Ive got the vicar coming round in an hour, i shall report back shortly.

Thanks ladies xx


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## princessellie

i was just wondering this myself, were not religious at all really but would still love a church wedding, would be amazing x


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## xLaurax

I suppose you can say i was brought up religious. I just re-read my first post back and i sound really vein. 

Money isnt an issue to us, im only planning on getting married once, so i would like to make it right.

I guess it all boils down to what the vicar has to say, i shall let you know Ellie :)


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## Twiglet

We're getting married in a church and in total it's costing us £360 [with the organist] and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

To get married at our venue it was £600 + £150 registrar fees :dohh: so no competition really.

I'm religious, Liam's a methodist but we're allowed to get married in a church we don't attend :thumbup: :)


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## honeybee2

I think its got to be a church if your questioning your original choice. I think you might regret it if you dont, you sound like you really want it! x


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## sapphire20

I'm really surprised that you all have set amounts charged by your churches, ours just asks for a donation so could be as little or as much as you like x


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## xLaurax

Well its all booked :) 3rd Dec 2011. Im so happy and really feel after speaking to many others that ive made the right choice.

Ellie, its worked out £270 church fees and £80 for the organist plus whatever heating costs at the time.


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## cherry22

Can i ask a question without being judged please???
its just that do you think you have to completley believe in god to be married in a church??
its wrong to do it if you just want a pretty venue i know but i wouldnt say im religious but i think that a church is the place of god and that if you get married there your marrige would be blessed so is that a bad thing because im not sure that there is actually a god really!!
if the vicar was to ask if i believed in god i wouldnt be able to lie and say yes, and she wouldnt marry us!!!
its somthing iv been thinking about alot!!!
I think its nice to keep the generations going because there arnt many people that get married in a church these days!!
xx


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## princessellie

thats why i changed my mind, paul is catholic but not religious and im muslim but not religious, would be amazing for the pics but if he asked me if i believed in his god id have to say no too lol x


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## booflebump

Congrats Laura xxx


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## xLaurax

Thanks Boofs :)

Cherry, i have to say our parish vicar doesn't seem like your stereotypical vicar. When he came around he never asked anything about what we believe etc, nor did we get judged for kids before marriage etc. He was more worried about telling me about the new vows where they have got rid of the women must obey there man lol, as he said lets face it there is no obedient woman on this planet ha ha, myself and my firend just looked at each other and couldnt believe it. One thing he did make clear though was because of it being a high church you must live in the parish to be able to marry there, how true this is for other parishs i dont know, its something you'd have to look into :)


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## booflebump

For all parishes, you either have to live there, or your parents live there, or you have lived there in the past to be allowed to marry there :thumbup:

My minister is pretty modern too, they are generally pretty happy to have people choosing to marry in their church xxx


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## honeybee2

Cherry, I dont think its wrong to get married in a church if your NOT religious and I'll tell you why;

As a Historian I study alot about community over the centuries and there is one thing that unites each person I've studied- and thats the church. A Church was never JUST used for religious ceremonies and services, a Church is at the heart of a community, it is there to serve a community. Churches were and still are places of meeting, years ago it was also used for such services as trial (like courts) and also council meetings.

Do not feel ashamed to say that you are not religious- they cannot refuse to marry you. Simply state that you feel very much a part of the community and that you would like to be married and witnessed by your community- aka your church.

Dont get me wrong, getting married in a Chruch it will be a religious ceremony but you have to respect this if you wish to be married here although Im pretty sure you can now tailor the service how you want and have a little amount of hymms etc.


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## princessellie

^^ thats interesting, i really wanted to get married in the church in teh area where i grew up, as a sentimental kind of thing, even though teh church isnt really all that, i thought it would be lovely, but thought id have no chance at all with not being religous x


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## honeybee2

No not at all. You are allowed to get married in the Church where you grew up- what a lovely idea.


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## princessellie

im gna ring them and ask them i think :cloud9:


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## Twiglet

Liam's not religious, never once has our vicar asked us and he christened both of our children so a very modern vicar :) xxx


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## Timid

OH and I are not religious, and we would love to have got married in a church because they are so beautiful. Having said that, we felt it would be wrong to do so - I have absolutely no knowledge of church services, hymns, and would feel quite hypocritical to say religious vows.

We managed to find a deconsecrated 700 year old chapel which has all of the beautiful aspects of a church, yet we'll have a civil ceremony.

It's right for us. 

:)

Tx


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## xLaurax

Awww Timid, that sounds perfect, ive been brought up quite religiously, where as my OH hasn't but we're very lucky to have a modern Vicar and my OH is very open minded. xxx


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## cherry22

Thats made me feel alot better about it! I wouldnt say iv always wanted a church wedding but i wouldnt write it off now!! even thou my OH isnt to keen so thats proberly giving me the answer!! he wants a summer wedding for one thats going to cost an extra 1000 pound just for the joy of not knowing if its going to rain all day or be boiling hot so we all swet all day!! but hay ho we will have to compramise i think!!
congratulations though now you can shop shop shop!!! x


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## Always&amp;4ever

I'm not religious so we decided against a church and went with a hotel wedding instead, in the end we decided to do it abroad.


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