The Church Of The Immaculate Conception
Farm Street
St. Ignatius Loyola - Founder of the Jesuits
WEDDING INFORMATION
Society of Jesus
 

 

 

Enquiry Stage:

First of all, congratulations on your engagement and coming wedding! We will do everything we can to help you with your plans.

Initial enquiries regarding the use of Farm Street Church should be sent in writing to the Parish Secretary, 114 Mount Street , London W1K 3AH . Your letter of enquiry should contain your names and addresses with contact details and the proposed date (approximately) for the wedding. Please also state your religious affiliation and whether you have ever been married before.

In order to celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Catholic Church, at least one of you must be a Catholic. If you do not normally worship at Farm Street, please state the name of the parish where you normally attend Mass and give the reasons you wish to marry here. You are very welcome to invite a priest of your acquaintance to officiate, if you wish.

After writing to us, we suggest that you come along to Mass some Sunday and meet the clergy! There is coffee in the Hall following the 9.30am and 11am Masses.

The Secretary will be in touch very soon after receiving your letter. Normally you should start making enquiries no less than six months before the proposed wedding date.

If you have a situation that you would prefer to discuss with a priest prior to writing, the secretary will be happy to arrange an appointment over the phone.

 

Essential Documents:

1. A letter from your local parish priest confirming that he has no objection to you being married in this church.

2. Letters of Freedom to Marry for each party, notarised by a Commissioner for Oaths (Solicitor).

3. A currently-dated baptismal certificate from the church where you were baptised.

4. From your local Registry office: a certificate for each of you which permits you to be married. These must be applied for as soon as possible and not less than fifteen days before the wedding. The certificates must be given to the priest by law before the ceremony so please deliver them as soon as possible. It is absolutely essential that the certificates are presented since the wedding cannot take place without them.

5. A Marriage Course certificate (see below).

6. a £30 cheque, adressed to WRCDT, for mixed marriage or mixed religion couples.

Marriage Preparation

Your wedding should be the culmination of much prayer and reflection.  Your priest will guide you in this process.  To assist you in this, it is required that both of you attend a Couple's Course in a parish near to you or at the Marriage Care Centre. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer such a course here. After you have completed the course, you will be issued with a certificate which you must present.

Order of Service:

You may choose to have a Nuptial Mass, or a Wedding Service without a Eucharistic celebration.  Please consult with the priest helping you regarding this question.

For your convenience, please consult the Order of Service Nuptial Mass and the Order of Service for a Wedding Service.

There is a choice of readings and music to be made in either case.

The readings are listed in the respective Order of Service, so please click on one to view them.

Music:

The Director of Music is David Graham.  You may ring him at home on 020 7253 7214, or email FarmStMusic@aol.com.  He will invite you to the church on a Saturday or Sunday morning for a personal discussion regarding the music.

The fees are: Organ £220; Organist & Soloist £400, Organist and Full Choir (9 professional singers and choir director) £1,200.

The choir, choir director and organist are professional musicians, hence the fees they charge and any recording of their work is part of their professional status. If you wish to record your wedding, you will have to purchase a Copyright License as well as having to pay additional fees to those performing the music, as required by law. The Director of Music can give you more information.

 

Flowers:

Gladys Hughes and her team are responsible for all flower arrangements in the church.  tel/fax: 01582 713470/620803; mobile: 0792 512 6013.

 

Photographs:

You can employ any photographer you wish. Tthe use of video cameras is permitted but check with the Parish Priest for guidelines and see above regarding the recording of music.

 

Confetti:

Under no circumstances is the use of confetti of any kind permitted either inside or outside the church.

 

Fees:

We suggest an offering of around 10% of the total wedding cost (this works out for most people at £1,500 - £2,000.), payable to "Farm Street Church".  If you are a UK tax-payer, this should be gift-aided (an envelope will be provided).  The sacristan should receive a tip for his help (£20).

 

Should you require further assistance or clarification, please do not hesitate to ask. It is our wish to make your Wedding Day as memorable as possible.

A.M.D.G

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