In light of the Government guidance around non-essential contact related to the coronavirus, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued advice that public worship is suspended until further notice. For all enquiries from now on please call Rev Margret Mattocks on 01902 842168.

We are delighted to welcome those who would like to get married in our beautiful church. We are very fortunate to have a lovely location, a good choir and organ, and an excellent ring of bells. Our aim is to help you prepare both for your wedding service, and also for your married life together. Our Enquiry Evening team deal with the practical arrangements. We then have a Wedding Preparation morning early in each year, to help couples with the service – music, readings, who does what etc. We also help you to think about the meaning of marriage, and give you a little light homework – which is thought provoking and good fun!

You will meet the minister there who will take the service, and arrange a time for the wedding rehearsal. This is a chance to ‘walk through’ the wedding service so you are able to really enjoy it on the day. We are delighted when couples come along to church, maybe on one of the Sundays when your banns are being read. This is a chance for you to get to know the church better, and for us to get to know you. We look forward to sharing in your special day.

Making arrangements
We have an Enquiry Evening every Monday (except Bank Holidays) 7:30-8:15pm in church for booking baptisms and weddings. There will be someone there to answer your questions and make all the arrangements. Some basic information is given below.

Who can get married at St Nicholas?
If neither of you has been married before and one of the couple getting married lives in the Parish of Codsall we can just take your booking. New regulations from 2008 now also allow you to be married in a church if one of you:

• Was baptised in the parish, or
• had his/her confirmation entered in a church register book of a church in the parish, or
• has at any time had his/her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months, or
• a parent of that person has at any time during that person’s lifetime had his/her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months, or habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months, or
• a parent or grandparent of that person was married in the parish.

If this is not the case, you’ll need to attend church here at least 6 times over a period of 6 months to qualify as a regular worshipper. We suggest coming to our Sunday 11:15 service which is very informal and friendly.

What if one of us has been married before?
We are happy to talk to you about the possibility of remarrying in church, which may well be possible, depending on your circumstances. Please contact the Vicar to arrange for a time to speak about this, rather than coming to an Enquiry Evening.

What are the banns?
This is the legal method of announcing that you are getting married. Banns have to be read here at St Nicholas, and if one of you lives in another parish, in that parish as well. It is your responsibility to arrange to have your banns read in the other parish – if you are not sure which parish you are in, go on a church near you It is worth contacting them well ahead of your wedding date to ensure that they are read. The other parish will need to charge to you, for providing a certificate to prove that the banns have been read. We encourage you to come along to the service here at St Nicholas to hear the reading of your banns, if you can, and we often pray for couples when their banns are read for the third time.  Only UK citizens may be married after banns – please bring your passport or other evidence of your place of birth when you come to the Enquiry Evening.

The service
Our usual times for weddings on Saturdays are 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. We are happy to discuss the possibility of weddings on other days. We hold a wedding preparation session to talk about possibilities for the service, readings, music, hymns etc. There are usually some flowers in church, but you are welcome to provide additional flowers. Further details will be given at the Enquiry evening.

Further resources:
– St Nicholas Wedding costs 2019  (charges will be explained in more detail at the Enquiry evening)
– Wedding information leaflet 2019
– Guidelines for photographers
– Guidelines for video operators
– The text if you wish to print all of the wedding service