Weddings

A Church wedding is a unique and personal occasion and so much more than simply a venue for your wedding day. A church wedding gives you the experience of making your marriage vows to the person you love, before God, your family and friends in a spiritual and beautiful setting, where thousands of other couples have shared their special day. You're welcome to marry in church whatever your beliefs, whether or not you are baptised and whether or not you go to church.

Within the framework of the Church of England wedding service, you can be involved in making choices about your ceremony. The vows you make in a Church of England service are unlike any other vows that you will make. These vows, made in public, will help you to stay together and grow together.

The Rector or Vicar has a very particular role to play in your wedding. They can blend ancient tradition and modern experience to reflect your story. Church buildings offer outstanding beauty. Old or new, intimate or grand, our Island has some truly outstanding places of worship in which to marry.

For some people, a church simply seems like the proper place to get married. Churches can be described as ‘peaceful’, ‘serene’, or having an atmosphere that makes marrying there a particularly special experience.

Information and advice about all aspects of getting married in the Church of England can be found by clicking https://www.yourchurchwedding.org/to the official Church of England website. Please be aware, however, that some of the legal aspects of marriages are different in Jersey to those set out on the website.

Please contact your Rector or Vicar for local information about getting married in Jersey and what is required beforehand in preparation.

Legal requirement for marriage in Jersey Church of England Churches

All marriages to be solemnised in Church of England churches in the Deanery of Jersey require legal preliminaries in one of three ways:

A Dean’s Licence Ordinaire:

This is the simplest method of undertaking the legal preliminaries. You need to contact the Dean’s Office (01534 720002) and the Dean’s P.A will arrange a time for you to see the Dean to obtain the Licence. You will need to bring your passports, proof of address for each of you, your full birth certificates, a Decree Absolut if you have been married previously or a death certificate where you are a widow or widower. A Licence cannot be issued without these documents. You will take an oath that the documentation is correct and the Dean will issue you with the Licence. This normally takes about fifteen minutes. You should speak to the Rector or Vicar who is taking your service before contacting the Dean’s Office. The cost of your Licence is £105, which you will need to bring with you. A Licence cannot be given more than three months in advance of the wedding date.

A marriage according to the rites of the Church of England may be solemnised in Jersey by Licence from the Dean:

(a) when two Jersey of British residents wish to be married in an Ecclesiastical Parish in which neither reside but with which one of them has a historic or pastoral relationship

(b) if either party is under 18 years old on the date of the marriage and the consent of the person having legal custody of that person has been given

(c) in all other circumstances where the parties could be married by banns

(d) in such other circumstances if the Dean so thinks fit.

A Dean’s Licence Extraordinaire

The same documentation is required for a Licence Extraordinaire, with the addition of documentation if you are a non-British National. The Dean may issues a Dispense Extraordinaire (Special Licence) in the following circumstances:

(a) Where the marriage is to be solemnised in an unlicensed place;

(b) where the marriage is to be solemnised on a Sunday or outside of permitted hours on a weekday;

(c) when either of the parties is a non British national, provided that such parties present a certificate of civil status from their consul or other satisfactory documentary proof of their condition and permission to enter Jersey for the purpose of marriage;

(d) in other compelling circumstances where the Dean sees fit.

Banns of marriage:

Banns of marriage are read out in Church for three successive Sundays prior to your wedding, to announce to the community when your marriage will take place and inviting anyone who knows of any cause or just impediment why you should not be married, to declare it. A similar fee is incurred for banns.

A marriage according to the rites of the Church of England may be solemnised in Jersey after the publication of banns of marriage when all of the following conditions are met –

(a) at least one of the parties is a bona fide resident in the ecclesiastical parish in which the marriage is to be solemnized; and

(b) both hold British passports or are of British nationality; and

(c) both will be 18 years old or over on the date of the marriage; and

(d) the marriage is to be solemnized on a weekday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

If you don't live in Jersey, it is still possible for your marriage to be solemnised here, especially if you have family connections, but we encourage you to ask for advice at a very early stage in planning your wedding.

For information about the legal preliminaries to marriage, applying for a licence and the residential qualifications required for marriage in Jersey, please contact the Dean of Jersey’s Office.