Your Wedding at St Albans Cathedral
Welcome
Practical Information
Banns
The Lady Chapel
Confetti, Flowers and Bells
Photography
Video Recordings
Refreshments
The Service
Order of Service and Readings
Music
Rehearsal
Fees
How to obtain your Marriage Certificate
Front cover photographer credits: Inna Kostukovsky
WELCOME
We are delighted that you would like to get married here at St Albans Cathedral. This booklet provides some practical information which will help and guide you as you prepare and journey towards your wedding day but do get in touch if you have a question that isn’t covered in the information set out in the following pages:
Jo Clark, Canons’ PA
INTRODUCTION
jo.clark@stalbanscathedral.org
We love having weddings at the Cathedral and we believe that this is the best place in which to get married – we might be a bit biased! As a couple, at this incredibly special moment in your lives, you can acknowledge the spiritual aspect of what you are doing, the vows you are making before God surrounded by your families and friends, and as we pray for you and seek God’s blessing on you as husband and wife.
As Britain’s oldest site of continuous Christian worship, you stand before God and in the footsteps of thousands of couples who have come to this holy place to be joined to one another in marriage.
Marrying in church is personal, meaningful and spiritual and the prayers, vows and the whole service of celebration become part of your marriage, on the day itself and beyond.
The clergy team here have a very particular role to play in your wedding and they can blend ancient tradition and modern experience to reflect your story. Because of the relationship with them, your wedding can be made personal, memorable, meaningful and beautiful.
And the Cathedral is not just a wedding venue but, afterwards, somewhere you can come to for support – we’ll always be here for you. So do stay in touch, join us for a service or some of the amazing events that happen here and know that this will always be a place where you belong and have a special connection with through your ‘Big Day’.
Most of us remember to celebrate our wedding anniversary year by year. It can be a great idea to come back to the Cathedral where you were married for a Sunday service around that date. Let us know if you plan to do this so that we can be ready to welcome you.
Be assured of our prayers and best wishes for you both as you plan and prepare for love’s great adventure which is marriage!
Fr Will Gibbs Canon for Mission and Pastoral Care
BANNS
Marriage by Banns is the easiest and most commonly used method. Banns give notice of your forthcoming wedding, being read out in both the bride and the groom’s parish churches on three consecutive Sundays in the period three months before the wedding. At St Albans Cathedral the banns are usually read on the first three Sundays of the month at the 9.30am Parish Eucharist in the month before your wedding is to take place. You are warmly welcomed to join us to hear the banns being read as a part of your wedding preparations.
If you do not live in the Cathedral’s parish, you will need to contact the priest of the parish in which you do live, and they will arrange for the banns to be “called” (to use its technical term) there. If you both live outside the parish and in different parishes, the banns will need to be called in both parishes as well as at the Cathedral. When the ‘away banns’ have been called, you will be given a banns certificate to give to the priest who will be marrying you. The marriage cannot legally take place until the officiating priest has seen the banns certificate; in practice it will need to be returned to the Cathedral House and held with your records.
When you plan for the banns to be called in both the bride and the groom’s parishes you will need the same information for each of you - full name, date of birth, address at the time of the reading of the banns, occupation, and a parent’s name and occupation. Please ensure that the information on the banns form that you complete prior to your wedding is accurate – if you change your address for example we will need to know so that the information we hold and put on the marriage document to be signed at your wedding, is accurate.
WHAT IF ONE OF US IS A FOREIGN NATIONAL?
Although, as stated above, every person in England has the legal right to be married by banns in the local parish church, marriage by banns is not always regarded as valid in some countries. If one or both partners does not hold a UK passport then the marriage can still take place in the parish church, but may need to be by common licence rather than banns. To obtain a common licence, you will need to contact the Diocesan Registrar, or a local Surrogate for Marriage Licences. For more information please contact Jo Clark, the Canons’ PA on 01727 890233 or jo.clark@stalbanscathedral.org
THE LADY CHAPEL
As a place of Anglican worship the whole of the Cathedral is registered for marriages, but weddings are usually conducted in The Lady Chapel (1) this is at the east end of the Cathedral, and adjacent to the Shrine of St Alban, the ‘heart’ of the building. It seats approximately 200 people, and has a more intimate and private atmosphere. There is a dedicated organ and sound system, and easy access for the congregation from Sumpter Yard.
Confetti
Only dry flower petal confetti to be thrown outside the West End doors. Please do not ask guests to throw anything until after the service and you are outside!
Wedding Flowers in the Abbey
We are delighted that you have chosen to hold your wedding in the Cathedral and welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your exact requirements for flower arrangements to enhance your important day.
In order to maintain consistency, the Abbey Flower Guild is the only provider of wedding flowers within the Cathedral. To match your colour scheme, we can arrange pew ends (that you can take away with you), as well as pedestals and bowls of fresh flowers to welcome you and your guests to the Lady Chapel. We always try to charge the minimum price, but if you request a particular colour or bloom it may cost a little more.
We really look forward to meeting you to discuss your ideas in detail. The guideline prices for floral arrangements are at the back of the booklet.
Bells
The bells being rung here at the Cathedral are a wonderful addition to your wedding; they continue for 20 minutes after the ceremony and announce to the guests and those in the Cathedral and surrounding area that you are now husband and wife!
Please note: depending on weather conditions (in particular wind direction) the bells are not always audible outside the West End of the Cathedral; that doesn’t mean that others locally won’t be able to hear them and enjoy being a part of your special day. Please come along to our regular services and stand outside the Cathedral to listen to the bells before deciding whether you want them rung for your big day!!
WHAT ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS & VIDEO?
The photographs of your wedding day will be very important to you, and whereas you have a lifetime to work on your marriage you only have the one chance to get the pictures right! Because the service is the most important part of your wedding day, we encourage you to have photographs of the ceremony itself, as well as of the celebrations before and after. However, as well as being a legal ceremony, the Marriage Service is an act of worship, and needs be respected as such at all times.
All photography/recording is at the discretion of the priest officiating at the ceremony, but we try to work to a basic pattern based on the following guidelines:
At the beginning of the service, the officiating minister will ask the congregation not to take photographs (with or without flash), or make any other recordings.
INFORMATION FOR THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Providing the beginning of the service is not delayed, there will be ample opportunity for photographs before the service, including the bride’s arrival in the North Churchyard and entrance through the Pilgrim door.
2. No flash photography is permitted once the Opening Music has begun, and until the beginning of the Concluding Music.
3. The photographer may stand at the front of the Lady Chapel as the bride enters, and once the service has begun, move into the doorway of the Chapel of the Transfiguration. The photographer may move to the back of the Lady Chapel during the singing of the first hymn.
4. Photographs may be taken during the signing of the registers, but only with those directly involved (bride, groom and witnesses). It is essential that this is done speedily and without fuss. Please note: it is illegal to photograph the entries on the marriage document.
5. The photographer may stop the couple halfway down the aisle at the end of the service in order to photograph them leaving the Lady Chapel. However, this must not delay the end of the service.
6. In wet conditions, and if there is no other service immediately following, it is usually possible to set up one or two photographs in the Cathedral before the wedding party leaves for the reception.
7. Please remember that the Cathedral is an incredibly busy place and other events may be taking place following the wedding, or visitors arriving via the West End. It would help us if you could avoid delaying your guests’ departure any longer than necessary.
8. Photographers are welcome to make advance visits to the Cathedral to check lighting levels etc. Please check in at the Vestry to let the Virgers know you are on site. It is preferable, however, that photographers do not attend the wedding rehearsal.
9. From time to time we may ask permission for photographs to be used in publicity material or on the Cathedral website. This will only happen after consultation first with the couple, and with the permission of the photographer – who will be credited in full.
10. Any particular concerns can be discussed before the wedding day with the officiating priest, but please note that any variation to the information set out above will need to be agreed by the Cathedral Clergy.
VIDEO RECORDING
For a wedding in the Lady Chapel, video cameras must remain fixed at the back of the chapel, and videographers must not move around during the service. If they do the duty Virger is liable to stop the recording. Please note: video recording any part of the service (including the entry of the bride and the exit of the bride and groom) is subject to an additional fee.
REFRESHMENTS
From hot beverages and cakes to prosecco receptions and canapes, we can offer you a custom-made catering package to suit your needs.
*New from 2023*
We are excited to announce, that we are now offering sit down or buffet meals within the Abbots Kitchen. Design your own menu with our talented team and enjoy your intimate wedding within the grounds of the cathedral.
Contact details 01727 890270 or email stalbansevents@elior.co.uk
Order of Service and Readings
It is not necessary for you to supply a printed service sheet. However, most couples do have one and it is essential if the hymns that are chosen are not in ‘Common Praise’ the hymn book used at the Cathedral.
The Cathedral Office is able to produce a simple Order of Service for you, at a reasonable cost, or provide a master which you can print yourselves, and will be happy to show you a sample. We can also provide the text of hymns and the Pastoral Introduction in electronic versions if you decide to design your own order of service. Please note that draft copies must be sent to the Cathedral Office for approval by the officiating priest before printing.
If you are creating something yourself, please note the following:
• You should always have sight of the sample that we provide to ensure that you include the necessary declarations, vows etc in the correct order and don’t miss anything out.
• Some ‘fancy’ fonts look nice for titles and headings, but when used for normal text are almost unreadable. The font used here at the Cathedral is Franklin Gothic Book and we would recommend that you use this or something similarly plain and easy to read.
• Please ensure you use the text of hymns from our own hymn book – Common Praise. Most are available on the internet but there are many different versions, so please do check with us to ensure that you have the right one.
• For ease of reading, hymn text should be indented and left aligned.
• If your Order of Service is more than one folded sheet you will need to secure the inner pages using staples or ribbons. Loose sheets are difficult for people to handle.
MUSIC
One of the most important decisions you will need to take in planning your wedding will be the musical content of the service. Music is a hugely important part of any act of worship, and the choice of music at your wedding will define the character of the service enormously, perhaps more than anything else.
Choosing to have your wedding at the Cathedral means that the service will be of a traditional nature, and this is reflected in the music we offer, both organ music and the congregational hymns.
You will therefore need to give a lot of thought to the choice of hymns and the organ music for your service. The Cathedral has a world-class music department whose staff will ensure that the music at your wedding is of the highest standard, and the most appropriate for its magnificent setting.
The Standard Option
You will undoubtedly wish to have music at your wedding and the provision of an organist is part of the standard package. The Director of Music is responsible for providing an organist. In some special circumstances you may wish to opt not to use the cathedral musicians (by requesting that other musicians are involved) but this must be approved by the Director of Music. If you choose to do so we will not reduce the service fee. In all cases all of your music choices will need to be agreed by the Director of Music and the Cathedral Clergy well in advance of the wedding day.
Your principal music choices are:
1 The organ music for the entry procession of the Bridal party
2 The organ music for your procession at the end of the service
3 Two or three hymns during the service
4 Music to be played during the signing of the marriage document (or to be sung if there is a choir or soloist).
Singers
The next thing you will need to decide will be whether you wish to engage either one of the Cathedral choirs or a solo singer to assist with singing the hymns. Often members of the congregation at a wedding do not really sing out and the hymns can be a rather embarrassing mumble! So choosing well-known hymns and having a choir or a soloist certainly gives the
congregation more confidence to sing, and will help the atmosphere in the service enormously.
The Cathedral’s two choirs are only available to sing at weddings on certain Saturdays in the year (during choir terms) so, if this is a priority for you, you will need to book a date that is compatible with the choir’s availability. Alternatively we can offer to provide a choir of adult professional singers if required should either of the Cathedral Choirs be unavailable. Please do discuss your requirements with the member of clergy who will be officiating at your wedding.
The singer(s) will also be available to sing some items of music, usually during the signing of the marriage document, and sometimes another piece of music will be sung earlier in the service or at the blessing at the end of the service. This will need to be discussed when you have your meeting with the member of the clergy who is officiating at your wedding.
Recording the Service
Any recording of the service (audio or video) or transmission via the internet or other media will incur additional fees for the musicians, whether this has been arranged by yourselves or if any of your guests decide to record the service.
Please Note:
It is against the law for anyone to make a recording of a musician’s live performance, including during an act of worship, without the musician’s specific consent and the musician will always charge a fee for this. The fee is agreed in advance and follows the standard guidelines for the music profession. If a recording is made by anyone present without our permission you will be billed for it after the wedding. Please see the Table of Fees for further details of recording charges.
Your Music Choices
Listed below are the standard pieces of music we offer from which you may choose. Recordings are available commercially or on the internet for you to listen to before making your decision.
The Director of Music will be happy to meet with you to advise, and this will be essential if you have specific ideas of music other than those listed here. His agreement to your music choice is crucial and we retain the right to veto some requests. Depending upon the repertoire, a choir director may be needed in addition to an organist and this will incur an additional fee.
Organ Music
Bride's procession at start of service
Bridal March from ‘Lohengrin’ Wagner
Trumpet Tune* Purcell
Trumpet Voluntary* Clarke
Trumpet Voluntary* Stanley
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Handel
Hornpipe from Water Music Handel
Canon Pachelbel
Te Deum* Charpentier
* also suitable for the final procession
Procession at end of service
Wedding March Mendelssohn
Toccata (from Fifth Symphony) Widor
Grand March from Aida Verdi
Toccata Dubois
You may have other ideas for organ music, which you should discuss with the Director of Music. He will endeavour to accommodate all reasonable requests though regrettably sometimes this is not possible.
Suggested Hymns
The hymn book used at the Cathedral is Common Praise and is available for use at weddings. If an order of service is printed you can make a choice from any source, with the agreement of the clergy and Director of Music. We recommend strongly that you think about the people attending your service and choose hymns that the majority will know and feel comfortable singing. For example, try to avoid choosing all your favourite hymns from school assembly because the chances are that many of your guests will not know them. It is usually better to err on the side of caution when selecting your hymns.
Common Praise
Tell out my soul
Hymn No.
362
Now thank we all our God 530
All my hope on God is founded 368
O Jesus I have promised (choice of two tunes) 538
Dear Lord and Father of mankind 411
From heaven you came (The servant King) 432
Praise my soul 555
Come down, O love divine 175
Morning has broken 260
Lord of all hopefulness 507
Let all the world 497
Lord Jesus Christ 505
Guide me, O thou great Redeemer 455
King of glory, King of peace 494
My song is love unknown 112
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us 496
I, the Lord of sea and sky 470
Lord, the light of your love (Shine Jesus, shine) 513
Love divine, all loves excelling (choice of two tunes) 516
Music for choirs (if a choir is singing)
The Cathedral Choirs (either the boys’ choir or the girls’ choir), both of whom sing with or without the adults of the choir, are available to sing during choir term time on Saturdays at 1.30pm but not at other times, due to their busy schedule and other weekend commitments. We can usually offer to put you in touch with a potential soloist instead (especially when the choir cannot be available on weekdays), and can also arrange a Cathedral Choir made up of adult singers for those times that neither the boys or girls’ choirs are available. You will need to discuss the music with the Director of Music if you decide to request music which falls outside the options given below.
Please contact Jo Clark, the Canons’ PA, as soon as possible if you wish to explore the option of booking a soloist. Any music sung in the service must be set to a mainstream Christian text, and must be appropriate for a wedding service (e.g. ‘Pie Jesu’ is often a popular request because it sounds nice, but the text comes from the Requiem Mass and being about death is only suitable for funerals and memorial services).
Anthems
Boys Psalms 23, 121, 67 or 128
Come my way, my truth, my life (The Call) Vaughan Williams
A grateful heart Plumstead
Jesu joy of man's desiring Bach
Panis Angelicus Franck
The Lord bless you and keep you Rutter
Laudate Dominum Mozart
Girls Psalms 23, 121, 67 or 128
Jesu, joy of man's desiring Bach
Brother James' Air arr. Jacob
Ave Maria Lindley
Laudate Dominum Mozart
A Gaelic Blessing Rutter
The Lord bless you and keep you Rutter
If you choose to have the full choir (boys or girls with the adults of the choir) the music for the anthems will need to be discussed separately.
Soloist options
We may be able to book a solo soprano to sing at a weekday wedding, or out of term time, though at some times of the year this is not always possible (e.g. New Year or in the middle of the summer holidays). Examples of music frequently sung by a soloist are:
Ave Maria Schubert
Ave Maria Bach / Gounod
Laudate Dominum Mozart
The Lord bless you and keep you Rutter
Jesu joy of man's desiring Bach
God be in my head
Walford Davies
Panis Angelicus Franck
All things bright and beautiful Rutter
Ave verum corpus Mozart
REHEARSAL
The Rehearsal will be arranged with the Officiating priest early on in the organisation of your wedding, and will usually take place one evening in the week prior to the service. Different clergy have different ways of organising rehearsals and they will make it clear who needs to be present when the date is arranged. The rehearsal will usually take just under an hour. As the Cathedral diary is very busy, when you meet with the officiating priest a rehearsal date and time will usually have been chosen; there is very little flexibility regarding this process due to prior bookings.
Information for others taking part in the service follows below, but please do ask if there is anything you (or your family and friends) are unsure about.
Sometimes the photographer will ask to come along to the rehearsal to check details and see the layout of the building. However, it is preferable if the photographer can arrange to come at a different time to the rehearsal, but if this is not possible please inform the Officiating priest in advance of the rehearsal and ensure that the photographer is aware that once they have seen the Cathedral wedding venue and spoken with the minister, they will be expected to leave so that the rehearsal may proceed
WHO ARRIVES WHEN?
On the day of your Wedding, please note the following ‘countdown’. Before the Service Start Time:
30mins The Virgers will have prepared the Lady Chapel for your service and guests may begin to be seated if they have arrived early.
20mins Ushers are in place at the back of the Lady Chapel (with Orders of Service, if applicable) and wait to direct the wedding guests to their places.
Anyone taking part in the service (reading etc.) should make themselves known to the Officiating priest, and find a seat at the end of a row.
10mins Groom and Best Man come to the front of the Lady Chapel to check Marriage Document and then take their places in the front pew. The priest briefs the Groom and Best Man on the service.
Please make sure that you and your photographer have arrived in good time to take the photographs required before now!
10mins Bridesmaids arrive and the priest explains their place in the proceedings.
Cars enter by the West Gate and drive up the North side of the Cathedral to the Pilgrim Door. They will then turn and drive back down to the West End, ready for the end of the service when the wedding party leaves after processing through the Nave.
5mins Bride and Bride’s Father (or Escort) arrive. The priest briefs Bride and Father/Escort.
0mins The service begins!
If you have booked the bells they will ring for 20 minutes after the end of the service.
IMPORTANT
It is essential that the service begins at the scheduled time. There will be other events taking place in the Cathedral following on from your service that staff have to attend and we cannot guarantee that the organist or the bellringers will be available for the final part of the service if it should overrun by more than a few minutes. Additional fees may be incurred to cover overtime for the musicians and parts of the service may have to be cut.
