ANGLICAN MARRIAGE
This page summarises the law relating to preliminaries to Anglican
marriage in
Legal Preliminaries
Before making plans for your Church of England or Church in
By law, a marriage can only be conducted after an appropriate
preliminary. This is a legal formality which authorises the wedding to take
place. In the Church of England and the Church in
Sometimes banns are not appropriate and the couple may obtain a common licence from their diocesan bishop's registry or a local surrogate. Occasionally a marriage in church may take place with a certificate issued by the civil Superintendent Registrar.
Residence
For all these preliminaries there is a residence requirement. The
Church of England and the Church in
Since the Marriage Measure became law on 1st October 2008 others now
have the same entitlement to marry where they have a qualifying connection.
Those qualifying connections are:
(i) that
person:
• was
baptised in the parish. (This does not apply where the baptism formed part of a
combined service of baptism or confirmation); or
• had his or
her confirmation entered in a church register book of a church or chapel in the
parish; or
• has at any
time had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6
months; or
• has at any
time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months;
or
(ii) a Parent
of that person has at any time during that person’s lifetime:
• had his or
her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months; or
• habitually
attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months;
or
(iii) a Parent
or Grandparent of that person was married in the parish.
The
references to baptism, confirmation and marriage, and to attending public
worship, are all confined to services
according to the rites of the Church of England.
Banns are read in the church where the
wedding is to take place and in the parishes where each party resides.
Where
one or both parties normally reside(s) overseas, the marriage should take place
by common or Special Licence.
For
more information about the Marriage Measure please click here.
If you want an Anglican wedding, find out which parish you live in and which church building may be used for the ceremony. Your local parish priest should be able to tell you which parish you live in. Alternatively, you may also use an online parish checker.
The first stage in your wedding plans should be a visit to your local parish priest or the priest responsible for the church where you have a qualifying connection.
If you have a genuine connection with a particular church or chapel
but you are unable to satisfy the legal requirement (see above) to marry there,
you may apply to the Faculty Office for the Archbishop of
Special licences are given by the Archbishop under powers he and his predecessors have exercised since 1533. They are not issued automatically. If you think you need a special licence, you should enquire about its availability before making any other preparations for the wedding. This is something you should discuss with the priest who is to conduct the ceremony.
If you wish to apply for a special licence or need further information, you should contact the Faculty Office at the address given below.
Archbishop's Requirements
Special marriage licences issued by the Archbishop of
If you do not satisfy one of the requirements set out below but still feel you have good reasons for being granted a special licence, you should ask the minister who is going to conduct the wedding to write to the Faculty Office explaining your circumstances.
- One of you should be able to show a genuine and long-standing connection with the church or chapel in which you wish to marry. This might be that you or members of your family have regularly worshipped there, or you have a family home in the parish. Individual circumstances vary and these examples are not exhaustive.
- Your families should approve of the marriage.
- The incumbent(s) or minister(s) in charge of the parish(es) where you live should have been consulted.
- The minister in charge of the church where the service is to be held must have consented.
In cases where one or both of the parties is divorced and has a former spouse still living, special licences are only granted where the House of Bishops’ Advice on remarriage is followed.
Procedure
You should apply for a special licence on the form which you can obtain from the Faculty Office as soon as the minister has agreed to conduct the service. You can apply up to 18 months in advance. Other arrangements should not be made until you know that the special licence will be granted. The form contains full instructions and details of the fee.
Part of the form which the Faculty Office will give you is to be completed by you, and part by the minister who will conduct the service. There will also be some guidance notes for you to give to the minister. It is important that full addresses and telephone numbers are given and that you have set out fully your connection with the church.
Once the application has been approved, one of you will have to swear an affidavit (a formal statement) to confirm the information given. You can do this in front of an Anglican minister of your choice (to whom a fee of £5 will be payable) or at the Faculty Office (when no extra fee is charged). If you choose to do this locally, a form of affidavit will be sent to you with full instructions. Once completed by you and the minister it must be returned to the Faculty Office. The licence itself will be sent out to the minister who is to conduct the service about three weeks before the wedding.
Special requirements for school and college chapels
This section explains the Archbishop's usual requirements for applicants and the procedure for obtaining a special licence where the parties wish to marry in a school or college chapel.
If you do not satisfy one of the requirements set out below but still feel you have good reasons for being granted a special licence, you should ask the minister who is going to conduct the wedding to write to the Faculty Office explaining your circumstances.
- Licences are normally granted if you are a member or former member of staff of longstanding service (teaching or non-teaching) of the school or college or a member of the immediate family of one of the staff.
- Licences may also be granted if you are an ex-student of the institution or you have a family or other link with the institution.
- Your families should approve of the marriage.
- The incumbent(s) or minister(s) in charge of the parish(es) where you live should have been consulted.
- The chaplain or
minister in charge of the chapel must have consented.
- The school/college authorities must have consented.
In cases where one or both of the parties is
divorced and has a former spouse still living, special licences are only
granted where the House of Bishops’ Advice
on remarriage is followed.
Foreign Nationals
Foreign Domicile
If either of the parties to a marriage in
A marriage performed in accordance with English Law may not be recognised abroad. There have been cases where the marriage has been declared invalid, leaving wives and children abandoned in a foreign country.
Problems with the recognition of marriage have arisen particularly
in Muslim countries, and some Eastern European states which were formerly part
of the
No difficulties have been experienced in the European Union, the old
Commonwealth (
Making Enquiries
To avoid risks about the recognition of an Anglican marriage, it is
necessary to comply both with the laws of this country and the laws of the home
country. You should seek advice from the nearest consulate or embassy of the
foreign country to ascertain whether a marriage conducted in
There may be additional legal requirements imposed by the foreign country before the marriage is recognised there.
It is particularly important to consult the consular authorities
where one of the parties is a foreign national under the age of 25. The legal
age of consent for marriage is not invariably the same in other countries as it
is in
Accordingly, it is strongly recommended, in the parties’ own interests, that even where marriage after banns is legally possible, an Anglican marriage should be by common licence where there is a relevant foreign element of any of the kinds described above.
Special Licence Procedure
Applicants for special licences who are foreign nationals are
strongly advised to consult their embassy or consulate at an early stage to
obtain satisfactory assurance that the legal requirements of that country have
been fulfilled and that a marriage of one of its citizens, solemnized in
England and Wales according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of
England or the Church in Wales, will be recognised in the country in question, and confirming the requirements as to
the registering of such a marriage in that country. A letter to that effect should, where
possible, be obtained and enclosed with the special licence application.
Applicants who are subject to
Further information
‘Anglican Marriage: a guide to the
law for the clergy’ is a comprehensive statement of the law of Anglican
marriage. It is available from the
address below at £3.50 each copy (your cheque should be made payable to “The
Faculty Office”)
1 The Sanctuary
Telephone 020 7222 5381 (
Fax 020 7222 7502
© The Faculty Office
