Churches are expensive!!!!!

It's a shame I'm not religious as a church would be far cheaper than what my venue is charging for the ceremony alone (£1500!)!! Plus then there's the £420 fee for the registrar etc on top.

It could be far worse and I guess at least you know the money is going towards something worthwhile (the upkeep of the church).

Try to stay positive ?

Do you go to church regularly? If not this could be the added pounds.

do you really want c of E? if you try baptist - the church comes up with the price themselves and doesn't come from a central office

Wowza!!! £1500!?!? Ok...£620 is a steal in comparison!!

Are you an April 2014 bride too by any chance? X

Wowza!!! £1500!?!? Ok...£620 is a steal in comparison!!

Are you an April 2014 bride too by any chance? X

We go for xmas/Easter and the odd couple in between but we have 2 children and its hard to keep them still and quiet during the service. The church we picked is my parents local church and they help out a lot there! Even down to my dad fixing the church floor! They live in a tiny hamlet & there are no other churches around. There is a baptist church near where we live though so will look into that. Thanks for the tip!

Ok, so Baptist church may not be possible....just had a quick squizz online and many don't like couple to be living together or at the very least having a "physical relationship"... We have 2 kids and have lived together for 7 years!

Not the same for all churches.

I am getting married in a baptist church and both my OH and I live together.

it does depend on the minister - contact them and see what he/she says

I have never got this argument.

The distinction between a church and a civil ceremony should never be based on money. If you want to be married before the God you believe in because that's a fundamental part of marriage for you, how can you think you'd really be married in a civil ceremony?

I came at it from the other side - a church wedding would render my marriage a sham - but it was completely black and white for me (us). And as a "nominal" Catholic (my name is down there somewhere), I probably could have levered a church wedding at a cost far less than the civil ceremony at my venue.

This declaration of marriage is the most important part of the whole shebang. All corners should be cut - and maybe a few sides as well - to ensure that you have the marriage you want.

*sounds like I'm grumpy but I'm not*

I've just missed out on being a April bride as I'm 28th March ?.

It's a shame that given your parents go to the church and your dad has helped out that they couldn't give you a discount!

The basic C of E wedding fees should not be that much. Check them out on the CofE website. The costs may be due to local additions such as heating, organist, choir, bells etc. Of course it's those things that many people feel make a church wedding! You might be able to reduce the cost though - ask the vicar for a breakdown of the figures - you're perfectly entitled to see that.

A quick look here https://www.yourchurchwedding.org/your-wedding/the-cost-of-church-weddings.aspx shows that the cost of a basic wedding is £440 this year and £451 next year. Here is a breakdown of the figures https://www.churchofengland.org/media/1492218/fees%20table%202014%20short%20summary.pdf

FTLOMB,, we do want a church wedding. It's important to both of us to be married in church hence why we declined the hotels use of the room for a civil ceremony despite it being included in the package. I'm just shocked by the cost!!

I've rejigged the budget and hopefully we should be able to make the £620 without forfeiting anything too important to the wedding. That said, my dad is friendly with a fair few of the parish councillors and bell ringers so who knew, maybe a bit of sweet talking from him may bring the cost down slightly!

Thanks for all your input!

Thank you for the links Marmalade Jar! V helpful!!

Ours was similar to this, but it included organist (£100), (bells £100) and banns (£34). I'd check with your vicar if it includes these, you might not want them all.

the actual wedding fees were £381 at the time, and our church didn't charge any extra, but churches are allowed to charge extra. They *have* to charge the basic, which is now the £440 but they can charge more.

But a church wedding meant everything to us, so it was worth it. If it's important, I hope your budget allows it

Our church fees are £602 to include the fees etc, verger, bell ringers, organist. Not the flowers, thats more on top!

Our church fees are £602 to include the fees etc, verger, bell ringers, organist. Not the flowers, thats more on top!

It's probably not much more expensive than a registrar in your venue to be honest. Our venue is licensed and we're paying £425 for the registrar but also an extra £250 to the venue for holding the ceremony there (even though we have sole use of it for the whole day - not sure if other venues do this too?)

We will be going to a registry office now.... A church wedding was really important to us and I would have paid whatever they asked.... However both the churches we approached have both got planned renovations work meaning the church may not be ready in time....

my OH is dead set against getting married at our local church where we are both members... And it's means we avoid a whole load of political issues surrounding invites and people showing up uninvited. (This is not uncommon in my church)

We are now doing the legal side a few days before at civic centre and then will have a blessing at the venue in the ceremony room in my book until we've had the blessing we won't be married regardless of the paperwork.

Point is you don't have to have a church wedding to have a religious ceremony there are ways around it. You just miss out on the church photos, this is not a problem for me because my church doesn't have grand buildings anyway...

OP dont forget your cousin would probably also have had to pay for a registrar as well so another £300-400 on top of the donation. At least this is for England as only the C of E ceremonies do not need a registrar present, not sure about elsewhere. My church wedding was about £750 including banns at second church and bellringers. I don't begrudge the cost.

To be honest getting married is expensive church service or otherwise.

Im pretty sure we paid £600 or so for the registrar and the hire of the room for our civil ceremony. A church would have been cheaper actually but we are atheists so not much point in a church wedding for us.

Its expensive to get married full stop. No matter where you do it.

As for the Catholic Church they have enough money already no? Probably why your friends was cheap. ?

A C of E service includes all the legal bits too. A service through any other denomination will need a registrar present so £70 for notice plus £425 for next year (just like a civil venue away from the registrars office).

If you are getting an organist, bells, choir then it's actually a really good deal.