The Anglican Parish of Banyule

Whether you want the lovely historic church of St John's in its beautiful setting, or the large innovative modern architecture of St Andrew's, or the more intimate Holy Spirit, we shall do our best to make your wedding a very special day.

Legal Requirements

Witnesses to the marriage must be at least 18 years of age. Two are required.

The Commonwealth Marriage Act requires that people getting married must be 18 years old or over, unless an order of a judge or magistrate has been obtained. Under NO circumstances can two persons under the age of 18 years marry each other. Consent from parents of a person under age are also required.

Between 1 and 18 months before your wedding you must complete the form 'Notice of Intended Marriage'. This must be renewed if necessary after 18 months.

Church Requirements

At least one of you should be baptised and you will need to find evidence of this from the church where this took place.

To secure the church for a particular time and day for your wedding you will need to pay a non-refundable $100 deposit to the Parish of Banyule at the time of booking. The Parish of Banyule's current standard wedding fee is $1,000. This includes the minister's, organist's and verger's fees, diocesan fees, flowers, secretarial costs and costs of the marriage preparation course.

The 'Notice of Intended Marriage' must be in the hands of the minister at least one month before the wedding date. We need to sight birth certificates or passport. If you have been divorced you will need to discuss this with the minister, who is required to seek permission from the Bishop to conduct the marriage, and you must also provide a copy of the Decree Absolute.

Marriage Preparation

Following government requirements a Marriage Preparation course is provided by the parish. You are expected to attend one of these courses which cover the wedding service, the relationships of marriage, also finances, communication, conflict resolution, your family of origin and family type, sexuality, and expectations of marriage. We hope you will see the value of putting time into your ongoing marriage rather than simply the wedding day.

The Wedding Service

You do not need to have a printed order of service. The liturgy will be that set by the Anglican Church. The order of service will be provided in your wedding kit, and you will see that there are choices to make about readings and prayers. Your personalising of this liturgy will be negotiated with the minister, who will need to see the final service BEFORE it is printed. We can also provide a list of suitable hymns.

Our organists are available for consultation about music, ancient or modern. We thoroughly recommend them for their professionalism, adaptability and helpfulness in your planning. "Live" music is far superior to CD's. A soloist can be arranged at an extra fee.

You will have a wedding rehearsal on the Wednesday or Thursday night before, which you organise by phoning the office. This takes about one hour, and you should ask readers as well as attendants to come. Flower girls and page-boys will benefit from becoming familiar with the ceremony and building. You will need to pay any remaining fees on that day.

We supply a verger who rolls out the red carpet and rings the bell. You will need to designate two people to act as ushers, who can help the verger and hand out service leaflets. Traditionally the bride's family sits on the left and the groom's family on the right as you face the altar, but feel free to seat people as you choose.

The groom and his attendants should arrive at least 15 minutes before and the bride should not arrive more than 10 minutes late. It is possible that your wedding would be delayed if the bride arrived very late, when there is another wedding to follow. If there are to be photographs before the service then she should arrive allowing 10 minutes for these photographs to be taken.

Confetti, flower petals, bubbles etc are permitted if they are used outside and not inside the church building.

Photographs make a lovely memory but they can also cause unlovely disruption to your ceremony. Please choose your photographer carefully. There are guidelines provided for you to give to your photographer regarding taking photographs at the church.

For further information regarding weddings in our parish please do not hesitate to contact our parish office