Is this normal for a church?

rev_henry

Noctu wrote: »

I suppose the question now is, do you really want to get married at a church who are trying to cause you so much hassle and extra unwarranted expense?

Well yes exactly, and I think the answer is no. We could complain to the diocese or whatever and make them not charge us but it would leave a nasty taste in the mouth for the actual day. Its not exactly like complaining to your bank or something! We're just a bit stuck now. Think we might let them know why we won't be using their church though...

Hollie84

Sounds wrong to me, we had c of e church and we paid £50 for flowers (we had a choice whether we wanted them or not) we had them play our own music at no extra charge, we had our own photographer and videographer and there was no charge for them taking pics etc we paid £440 in total. we didn't want the organ which took £50 off the bill.

scrumpy78

Our c of e church is coming in at around £650. Ive to pay for heating lighting bell ringers etc. Ive objected to the £25 tea n coffee fee though. Ive checked on c of e website n the fees match up. Our previous vicar made couples attend a 6 week course on marriage before he would marry u. I had to do a course for my daughters christening.

Hollie84

scrumpy78 wrote: »

Our c of e church is coming in at around £650. Ive to pay for heating lighting bell ringers etc. Ive objected to the £25 tea n coffee fee though. Ive checked on c of e website n the fees match up. Our previous vicar made couples attend a 6 week course on marriage before he would marry u. I had to do a course for my daughters christening.

My friend has to pay for the heating in the church she Is getting married at in oct which is also c of e, no courses though, ive heard about marriage courses when getting married in a catholic church never c of e. They seem to all vary, my friend seems to think she HAS to have the organ, told her its choice but the vicar has given her the impression, told her surely not as not everyone wants instrumental music.

rev_henry

scrumpy78 wrote: »

Our c of e church is coming in at around £650. Ive to pay for heating lighting bell ringers etc. Ive objected to the £25 tea n coffee fee though. Ive checked on c of e website n the fees match up. Our previous vicar made couples attend a 6 week course on marriage before he would marry u. I had to do a course for my daughters christening.

I wouldn't mind if it was for actual, tangible things, all of which are optional (though lighting sounds a bit dodgy), but its a 'facility' and 'admin' fee which is specifically banned by the C of E.

I also wouldn't mind having to do a course, I want us to do one anyway.

We're just a bit stuck now, because I have always wanted a church wedding, I hate the idea of a civil ceremony, she's the opposite and only agreed to the church because its lovely and because of its connections with my family.

floss2

rev_henry wrote: »

I wouldn't mind if it was for actual, tangible things, all of which are optional (though lighting sounds a bit dodgy), but its a 'facility' and 'admin' fee which is specifically banned by the C of E.

I also wouldn't mind having to do a course, I want us to do one anyway.

We're just a bit stuck now, because I have always wanted a church wedding, I hate the idea of a civil ceremony, she's the opposite and only agreed to the church because its lovely and because of its connections with my family.

Why not ask him why, and say that you had checked it with (whichever website you checked on) which stated that they are "illegal". Maybe he isn't aware of that, after all admin type things are not what one would expect a vicar to be an expert in