Who can get married at St Bartholomew’s or St Mary’s?
The Church of England is both a religious and a legal organisation when it comes to weddings.
This means that, because we register your marriage, you do not need to go to your local registry office.
But it also means there are rules about eligibility – who can and cannot be married in a particular church.
Find out if you are eligible
To be eligible, you or the person you’re marrying must be able to show that you have a ‘qualifying connection’ to the church you want to get married in.
The most common qualifying connection is that you live in the parish. In our case, the parish covers a wide area from the border with Bromsgrove to north Redditch.
If you are one of the 40,000 people living in the parish, then you do qualify – congratulations! You can choose any of the parish churches of the Redditch Holy Trinity Parish, including St. Bartholomew’s or St. Mary’s.
Find a church near you
You can find out if where you live is in the parish on the Church of England’s website ‘A church near you’.
Click here to go to the ‘A church near you’ website (opens in a new window) and type in the postcode for the place you will be living when you are married.
That will take you to a map, which will show your home, the Holy Trinity parish and other parish churches in the area.
Other ways to be eligible
If neither of you live in the parish don’t despair!
These days there are other qualifying connections that make it possible for someone to get married in a particular church.
For example, if you used to live in the parish, or if your parents or grandparents were married at the church, you may qualify.
You can find more information on the Finding a church page on the ‘Your Church Wedding’ website: click here for the Finding a church page (link opens in a new window).
More information
If you’re still not sure that you qualify, please contact us.
You can also find general advice and information about planning a church wedding on the Church of England website ‘Your Church Wedding.’
Click here to go to the Your Church Wedding website (opens in a new window).