Saint Margaret's Hornby
Saint Michael the Archangel Whittington
Saint John the Baptist Arkholme
Saint John the Evangelist Gressingham
in the Lune Valley in north Lancashire


Option 2: A Simple, Beautiful, Traditional Church Wedding

This is the standard package that we put together ourselves

If you just want a simple, beautiful, traditional church wedding, this is the option for you

A single price of £725 (2021 rate) applies across all four churches

This includes the church, the minister, all legal costs (including banns here but not elsewhere), the organist, the vergers, use of our hymn books, access to the available toilet facilities, and heating as required

An additional £60 winter-heating charge applies for weddings held between November and March inclusive

The organist will provide background music as your guests arrive, then play you in with Wagner's Bridal March, accompany any of the standard hymns, play during the signing of the registers, and play you out with Mendelssohn's Wedding March

The vergers are our on-site staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly for yourselves and your guests

The order of service is: Bridal March (Wagner), Opening Prayer, The Marriage Service, Reading(s) and Address, Prayers and Blessing, Signing of the Registers, Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

If you think your guests would enjoy singing some hymns at your wedding (there are some suggestions here) you can include up to three hymns, and the order of service is as follows: Bridal March (Wagner), Opening Prayer, First Hymn, The Marriage Service, Middle Hymn (optional), Reading(s) and Address, Final Hymn, Prayers and Blessing, Signing of the Registers, Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

There are no church bells in Arkholme or Gressingham, but Hornby has eight bells and Whittington has six - if you would like a full team of bellringers, and we can get a team together, the cost is £20 per ringer, which means £160 in Hornby (eight bells, team of eight) or £120 in Whittington (six bells, team of six), payable at the time of booking

In each church, we can accommodate as many as three weddings in one day, with start-times two hours apart, without it detracting from the dignity of each wedding and the smooth running of the day - you can go in with any special flowers and decorations for your wedding one hour before the start time for your wedding (no earlier) and they will have to be taken out again straight afterwards - the option to reserve the date exclusively for your wedding and to reserve the day before as well (for setting up extra flowers and decorations) is available for a single extra charge of £85

People often have a particular reading that they would like a guest to read at their wedding - if this is from the Bible, it can take the place of the Bible Reading in the standard running order - if it is from another source, you can insert it immediately before the Bible Reading in the standard running order (so ‘Reading’ becomes ‘Readings’) - you can also invite one of your guests to read the usual Bible Reading if you wish - the Address will always be given by the minister leading the service

If you would like to have your own choice of recorded music played for coming in, or going out, or during the signing of the registers (instead of the traditional organ music), we can accommodate this within Option 2 as long as you are completely self‑sufficient - which means you have to arrange for everything that you need, in order to play the music, to be brought into church and set up, in the final hour before your service is due to begin: your own audio equipment, ready to play the pieces you want played, and someone to operate it - all the churches have 13amp mains sockets, but not always in convenient places, so bring an extension lead as well - if you need more support or advice on this, you should use Option 1

If you organise your own choice of recorded music (see previous paragraph) for before the service as people arrive, and for coming in, and for going out, and for during the signing of the registers, and you are not having hymns, then we can run the service without an organist, at a saving of £85 - let us know at the time of booking


How to book

Contact the churchwarden (details on home page) with the following information

• both your full names and dates of birth
• your preferred date and time
• your preferred venue - ie which of the four churches
• your answers to the five questions from here, and your qualifying connection with the parish from here - which you should have already seen
• whether you would like bellringers - for an additional charge as noted above
• whether you want to reserve the date - and the day before - exclusively for your wedding, for an additional charge as noted above
• whether you plan to have the service without the organist - for a reduction as noted above
• your best contact details - address, phone, email, and say if you have WhatsApp

You can also include your choice of hymns if you wish

As soon as the date, time and venue are agreed, you should confirm the booking by making full payment, by cheque, payable to whichever of the following applies: Hornby Saint Margaret PCC, Whittington PCC, Arkholme PCC, Gressingham PCC

In addition to the standard charge, remember to include, if applicable: the winter heating supplement for November to March inclusive, any payment for bellringing, and the additional charge for early access

The churchwarden will tell you where to send the cheque

We will acknowledge receipt, and that confirms your booking

From 4 May 2021, while the church can still complete the legal registration of your marriage, it can no longer issue a marriage certificate to show that the marriage has been legally registered. You can obtain a marriage certificate later, after your wedding, for a small fee, on application to Lancaster Register Office.


And finally...

...don't forget to go through the three month checklist and the one month checklist on the main weddings information page

Make a note that you need to do this, as you may not receive a reminder

The same page has Frequently Asked Questions and other information

Back to main Weddings information page