Church wedding

Just a thought, but when we were looking at churches for our wedding, our one concern was that they were too big. We were worried that everyone would look like they were rattling around in them, but eventually decided that once everyone was in and sat near the front, it wouldn't matter and the photographer could just make sure he got some shots that didn't show loads of empty space.

Then we had Covid, and suddenly, our 'huge' church became only just big enough for our scaled back guest list of 13...

Obv, we all hope by 2022 it won't be an issue, but it might be worth picking a church that is big enough to allow for plenty of people with social distancing, just in case.

Regarding time, it depends very much from church to church (or rather vicar to vicar) how often you are expected to attend before getting married. So it would be worth having the conversation with the minister of the church you are considering. Do you normally attend a church or would this be just for the wedding? If you are attending one church, you could ask your vicar or minister to approach the church you want to marry in. I think those who ask for several months' attendance are usually wanting to make sure that couples have a good understanding of the Christian view of marriage pre wedding - so if they know you are already familiar with church, they might not expect you to attend for so many months.

We are marrying in a church - although my fiancé was never brought up following a religion, I was brought up Christian and regularly attending church. We moved in together to a new parish just before Covid became a thing, so didn’t have time to test the churches out here. Our parish vicar has been really understanding and agreed to read the banns in good time.

The church we are marrying in is one my dad attends weekly. We can marry there through the family connection: he attends regularly and has done for a number of years, my sister was married there and my two nieces were christened there.

I think the 6 month thing was made to test commitment to a faith wedding. If you have commitment to Christianity in your past, you may be okay 😊

Another option might be to look at non Anglican churches. Although some of these do not have a registered person for recording marriages, so you may have to book a registrar to come to the church. Maybe have a look round at local churches & see if any of them feel welcoming & the kind of place you'd like to go to.