the church forgot to read our banns!! getting married next saturday!

*FORGOT*???

They will sort this out for you as this could make a mega legal case if everything is up front, paid for an its their fault.

That sounds crazy. Don't they have a midweek service? Does that count to read them there?

Oh my that is stressful!

Be polite but I would stress that the responsibility to rectify this lies with the church i.e. make sure they have a next day courier arranged, for London, check that the church lawyers are fully aware of the urgency of the situation and request an update by Thursday the latest.

Unfortunately banns can only be read on 3 consecutive Sundays and not during the week

I'm going to be majorly questioning the man we go to see on sunday to get some answers. We have paid nearly £1000 to get married in this church and they FORGET to read my banns. They only had 1 job.

They managed to read the other couples who are getting married on the same day. Annoying thing is we paid everything in full ages ago and they said they were going to wait until the other couple had paid up before they started reading ours, so if they had read them when we paid it would all be sorted by now. Instead they waiting until the other couple paid, made a mistake and now have potentially ruined our wedding. Even if it gets sorted this isn't the sort of stress we need.

If it doesn't get sorted then I'll be making them do a blessing or something and then have a real wedding when it's all sorted.

WOW! I have nothing productive to add, but you have my sympathy in bucket loads.

if I was that vicar I would have just kept quiet and pretended I had done it, who would have known?

Hi mrsgzd,

Sorry to hear this! I have a feeling that I went to a wedding last year where something similar happened - they found out a lot later, maybe even a day or two before, and I know they got it sorted and married legally. I can't remember the exact details though, I will send her an email to ask what they did in the end.

Fingers crossed!

Thank you that will be so helpful

Hopefully that's are 3 lots of bad luck done and it all goes smoothly

Oh my God, I would be livid!! I hope you get it sorted, and they do more than just apologise, that's appalling!! Please keep us updated, I've got everything crossed for you x

I have nothing constructive to say didn't want to read and run. I'm keeping everything crossed it can get sorted. Keep us updated.

I echo what Jen Lou has said. Hoping it all gets sorted. I am absolutely sure it will as it is totally the vicar's fault.

Ahh that's awful and I would be really upset. I have never heard of this happening so I am sure they will be able to sort it out as it is their responsibility. Fingers crossed for you x

OMG That is so terrible of the church.

hope they get it sorted out for you & OH

Keeping everything crossed xxxx

Wow, that's unbelievable! I'm sure they'll sort it out though - it's in nobody's interest to not let you marry. Their reputation would be ruined otherwise (even more than it already is when you tell people about this...)!

A friend of mine had the same thing happen to her, she had to drive an 80 mile round trip the day before the wedding to resolve it but it was sorted very quickly, so try not to worry, you should have plenty of time.

I would look to seek some sort of refund from the costs you've probably paid the church though, they did and got a third of the cost back.

Dawn

I agree re asking for a partial refund. The £1000 fee is not all set by the C of E, only about half that will be a central tariff fee. The rest is what the PCC add on locally - so the vicar and PCC have the right to waive that fee. They don't need any higher permission.

You can work out exactly what the local church share is by checking the tariff on the main C of E website

I'm so sorry to read this, what a stress for you. I hope its all sorted in time and you have the wedding day you dreamed of Xx

I'm definitely going to be asking for the money back for the publication of the banns as they didn't do it

Hi mrsgzd,

Sorry it's taken a while, but I have finally heard back from my friend that this happened to... she says:

"Ah what a pain but it is relatively easy to sort out. If they’ve forgotten to read the banns they will need to go and swear an affidavit (basically confirming that they are free to get married and entitled to get married in that parish) and obtain a certificate – think it was before the diocese. We had to go in person the day before the wedding to get the certificate. Was relatively easy although does depend where the diocese is. There was a cost but as the vicar forgot, he paid for it."

Don't know if you've already sorted this, but if not I hope this helps. Good luck!