Where can we marry?
Flowers
Order of Service
Planning your wedding
Hymns & readings
Fees

Weddings:
​ 
​Getting married in the Raleigh Mission Community

Marriage is a gift of God in creation in which man and woman come together and begin a new family. If you are considering marriage, we would like to encourage you to marry in church.

Formerly, the law established a right for a couple to marry in the Church of England in the parish church where one or both of them lived, whether they were baptised or not, and whether they were churchgoers or not. To marry in any other parish required a special licence or six months of regular attendance followed by entry on the local church electoral roll. But new laws, initiated by the Church of England and approved by Parliament, add to this right of residency, making it just as easy for couples to marry in a church where they have a family or other special connection, even if they don’t live there.

Please contact the Office on 01395 443397 in the first instance. Look at the Church of England website to see whether you are eligible: 

www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/weddings

The changes mean an engaged couple are welcome to be married in church in a parish if just one of these applies:

• one of them was baptised or prepared for confirmation in the parish;
• one of them has ever lived in the parish for six months or more;
• one of them has at any time regularly attended public worship in the parish for six months or more;
• one of their parents has lived in the parish for six months or more in their child’s lifetime;
• one of their parents has regularly attended public worship there for six months or more in their child’s lifetime;
• their parents or grandparents were married in the parish. 

For the Raleigh Mission Community, "parish" means any of the three parishes, Budleigh Salterton, Otterton and East Budleigh with Bicton, and if you meet the eligibility criteria you can choose to have your wedding in any of the three churches - St Peter's, St Michael's or All Saints.