Church scaffolding a week before my wedding :-(

Speak to the vicar asap. Can't believe they didn't warn you. Maybe it's a quick job but at the roof ish so needs lots of covering up etc.

i don't know what to suggest except another church that has a slot for you.

fingers crossed it's all coming down again before next Saturday.

Oh no, how awful! I wonder what she meant by 'not to panic' in the email, perhaps it's going to be a very quick job! Is it a pretty church inside? You may need to have photos taken inside (this is likely to be our scenario as we get married at the end of December). I can understand why you feel so upset. Big hugs x

She did say don't panic so I'm assuming all or most will be gone for your wedding but I would still check with them asap. X

Oh no!!! Just have to wait for the vicar to get back to you I guess and find out if it will be there for your wedding day. As to what you should say to them, make sure they know how upset you are! How long is it going to be up, can they take it down for the wedding, was it planned for a while, was it for emergency repairs?

I'm not having a church wedding so I don't know how it works but did you have to sign a terms and conditions or anything that could have said something about the scaffolding?

You can still have some lovely pictures inside the church and try to find some areas of the grounds that would make a nice backdrop for photos like a tree or stone wall if you don't want to be photographed against the green scaffold!

Are you getting married there because it's pretty or because you want a church wedding? I'll assume the vicar will think the latter s therefore wouldn't think work getting done would be a problem. It's unfortunate but if it's raining then you might not get pics outside anyway?

Concentrate on positives and don't let this spoil your day, which I'm sure will be wonderful

Let us know what the vicar says x

Sadly churches aren't really like venues with contracts etc, and you probably can't change elsewhere at this point due to marriage prep, banns etc. Sadly I would worry your vicar said don't panic as she knew you would. It doesn't sound likely that heavy duty scaffolding will only be up a week and if it was due down she probably would have said so. I think you are probably going to have to come up with an alternative for photos e.g. inside or at your reception venue. Can you talk to your TOG? I feel for you as no-one wants that, even if they didn't pick the church for aesthetic reasons.

If all else fails there may be a bit of the church you can use for outside photos where you can't see the scaffolding etc. or find a park etc nearby and disappear for some photos of you and h2b or main bridal party there. Or do everyone else at the reception venue and you and h2b somewhere else nearby. I've known a lot of bride and grooms disappear for a short while for some pictures.

where I used to live there was a small village with just a tiny stream but a lovely bridge. A lot of couples went to have some pics taken there.

try not to panic yet and see what the vicar says and I assume today is a good day to try to have a word. If it's not good news contact your photographer Monday so he can sort out another option. If he is local he will know all the good spots.

Oh no, feel for you. Could your TOG perhaps take pics of you at the church as normal, and then when the scaffold is removed, go back to take some pics of it, and Photoshop it back into your original pics?

Could you find a workman mid-week and ask them how long they will be working there? Also ask how long ago the works were booked.

If you do speak to the vicar and the scaffolding will still up during your wedding, I'd only pay a reduced 'donation' to the church. I know they need cash to do such repairs, but if its going to be up for your wedding, they should have notified you with more than 1 weeks notice! And also phoned and spoken to you, not just send an email! If you planned photos outside which I'm sure you did, I'd only pay 2/3 of whatever they originally suggested as a fee, as this space is no longer suitable. Not sure you can, but I'd certainly bring up how dissapointed you are etc.

Of course, it may be all gone by next weekend, and if so, no worries. I still think they should have actually rung you though to save this un called for panic.

I'm not religious, but it seems to me that reducing the fee because your photos aren't what you expected is rather contrary to the sentiment of being married in church.

I know a week's notice isn't much, but I work in a business which is involved in a lot of engineering. When you start work on a structure, it's not unusual to come across problems which you didn't know were there. You might think you only have some minor repairs, but actually it turns out you need to do major rebuilding. It is perfectly possible that the Vicar was anticipating a couple of days' work during the week and now it. Alternatively, you may genuinely only need to do some minor work in terms of length of time, but it requires a lot of scaffolding in order to keep the structure secure and make the workmen safe during the work. Given the Vicar said "don't panic", I'd suggest that it's more likely to be the latter. You won't know until you speak to the Vicar.

I wouldn't bother speaking to the workmen. Chances are, the people doing the work won't be the people who took the booking, and they won't be able to tell you what proposals the Vicar might have to deal with weddings while the work is going on.

Hi All,

Ok so we spoke to the Vicar last night and apparently she is just as shocked that it has been put up at the front of the building. As far as she was aware it should've only been going up at the side of the building. Even still, there has been no mention of any work being started at any point which is why it's such a shock seeing it like that.

I know it's not the end of the world but it just doesn't really give the picturesque first impression that we had planned for which is a shame. We moved out of the area and specifically kept going back to that church because we loved the setting, the building and the general area. I know the wedding is about what happens inside the church but it's also about the way we all plan and dream of our day as it approaches... If only this were a dream!

We've been advised by the Vicar to write a formal complaint to the Church warden and ask for it to be taken down until after the wedding. She has offered for us to use her garden for photos as it is just next door but we'll have to have a look at it first. With only a week to go there's just so much to do.

I'm going to email the photographer now and see if she has any suggestions.

Thanks for all the replies so far xx

Oh, and the work will be going on until mid September. There's another wedding at the start of next month and apparently that Bride isn't too happy either.

I know it's expensive to pay for scaffold to put up or take down.

keep us posted love.

not a great first impression but service inside, group photos in her garden and a really nice spot with you h2b and tog may work out fine.

give you something to take a pic of with the scaffold and a pic after for the album. What it was supposed to look like and what it did. Trust me you will laugh one day. Even tho it's a nightmare now!

Did you manage to find anywhere glorious for photos? X

I know this is upsetting for you and you would like to get married in a pretty church, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes these things just happen. If the work is urgent they can't work around your wedding.

Churches are in use a lot and i'm afraid sometimes the bad luck just hits you. We had scaffolding up on our day. We just moved to a different section and you can't see it in the photos. We had to use a different entrance/exit.

You won't care on the day. I'd rather have scaffolding than it rains through the ceiling or something falls on a guests head.

These buildings are old and sometimes they need to be repaired quickly. i don't think complaining is going to make a hoot of a difference.

FWIW, I was only speaking to my future SIL the other night who mentioned how she had scaffolding go up at their planned church 2 weeks before her wedding (about 12 years back now!). They weren't happy with it so they changed the service to a different church in a village about 2 miles up the road from where theirs was originally going to be. Now I'm not too sure what the implications were etc and this was a good few years back now, but it's just to show that it was possible.

However, I'd also consider the other options... quite often the insides of a church are beautiful settings for pictures especially if there are some beautiful stained glass windows, or some antique features. Also, the idea of the vicar's garden also sounds lovely. It's a real shame to not have it as you have pictured it in your mind, but it sounds like the other options are also good!

Hope you find a solution soon!