Major wedding panic!! Please help!

Hi found this online, hope it helps x

MARRIAGE - COMMON LICENCE PROCEDURES

MARRIAGE AFTER BANNS

1. Under present rules, a couple can marry in a Church of England church

after banns if:

(a) One of them has a permanent residence within the parish,

(b) One of them is on the electoral roll of the parish (in which case,

banns must

be read in the church in which that person

actually resides).

MARRIAGE UPON COMMON LICENCE

2. If neither of these criteria can be met, the couple can be married in a

Church of England Church if one of them can establish a temporary residence

within the parish and then swear an affidavit before a surrogate as to his/her

identity and the identity of the partner and as to their freedom to marry and so

obtain a Common Licence.

3. This is especially important in the case of a couple one of whom is a

foreigner and who therefore has nowhere in this country where banns can be

read.

A FOREIGN NATIONAL SHOULD MARRY BY COMMON LICENCE

RATHER THAN BY BANNS.

4. Even with a permanent residence within the parish where the marriage is to

be celebrated, a couple may if they wish swear an affidavit for a Common

Licence rather than have banns read.

5. The Licence is only valid for three months but an affidavit may be received

before that date and acted upon within three months of the marriage date

PROCEDURES FOR A COMMON LICENCE

6. In each area (deanery) of the diocese there is at least one priest who has

been appointed a delegate (known as a surrogate) by the Chancellor for the

purpose of granting common licences for marriage. The present Registrars

and Registry Assistant are also surrogates.

7. The couple swear an affidavit before a surrogate. If one is a foreigner

he/she provides proof of identity and some form of certification that he/she is

of single status and is free to marry. The surrogate has to satisfy him/herself

as to the validity of such evidence.

COPIES OF THE DOCUMENTARY

EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY AND SINGLE STATUS OF A FOREIGN

NATIONAL, AND/OR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO A

PREVIOUS MARRIAGE OF ONE OR BOTH PARTIES (DEATH

CERTIFICATE/DECREE ABSOLUTE) MUST BE SUPPLIED TO THE

REGISTRY ALONG WITH THE AFFIDAVIT.

Evidence of single status from the home county can either be by way of a

printout from an official register, or a letter from a person in a position of

authority (eg priest, lawyer, doctor) who knows the person but is not related to

them, saying how long and in what capacity they have known them and that,

to the best of their knowledge and belief they are not married in that country. If

a person has lived in more than one country as an adult (ie if it is possible that

they could have married in more than one country), then that documentation

will be required from each county.

An unbaptised party (both parties if they are both unbaptised) should sign a

statement on the back of the affidavit that “ I ……being an unbaptised person

state that I do not reject the Christian faith and that I desire to be married in

the Church”

8. When the surrogate has signed the affidavit form, the licence is technically

granted but the affidavit is sent to the Registry so that a proper licence

document can be drawn up. In cases of emergency, the marriage can legally

proceed once the affidavit has been sworn, even if the Licence has not been

received, but the Registry still need to receive the documentation, as a

Register is maintained of all Licences.

Oh, Thank you so much!!

Hope it helps, I wouldn't panic too much it looks as though you will be able to get it all sorted x

Not being funny but I was sure it was your vicar's job to sort reading them out, sometimes it's just nice if you're there to hear them.

As long as the banns are put up in the church somewhere for people to read for the next 14 days you should be fine.

That sounds weird, it's the vicar's job to sort the banns out. He should have suggested some dates for the readings. Don't know why he's now asking YOU if you've sorted it!

If its not your parish then you have to get them read in your parish as well as the church you are marrying in. This is what we are having to do. The vicar is sorting our church but we have to arrange for our parish church ourselves.

I would have thought this too. I know when i got married in a COE church that neither me or H were residents in the parish our vicar put dates in his diary when we first booked the wedding to say what dates the banns were being read. This was done almost 2 years before when we booked the church and we went to church on the days of the banns being read.

What Zippy says is correct - but your vicar should have advised you of the process and how to go about it.