If you live in the parish, or have a connection with the
congregation or community of Crieff, you can celebrate your
wedding, conducted by the Minister, in our church building.
Both the Minister and a Deacon within our congregation are authorised to conduct religious weddings (as permitted by
the Church of Scotland) and while encouraging weddings in
the church are happy to consider
weddings in other locations if circumstances require that. Please contact the Minister before you make any arrangements.
Almost all the practical information you’ll need is on
this page. You may want to print it off for reference.
Please check back for updates nearer the date of the
wedding.
You may also like to read
this information about marriage in the Church of Scotland,
from the Kirk’s website.
There are fees for the Church Officer and the Organist
(see below). Although there is no fee for the minister we do ask for a
contribution towards the use of the church.
You can .
We’re glad that you have decided to get married in
Church, and wish you every happiness as you prepare for the
big day, and God’s blessing on your life together in the
future.
This information should help you plan your wedding. If you have any questions,
please don’t hesitate to ask!
If you would like to be married at
Crieff Parish Church, you must first speak to the Minister,
the Rev Andrew J Philip.
Once a wedding is agreed you should also make contact with
the Organist and Flower Convenor (contact details below)
1. The Service, is a time of Christian
worship which lasts around 30
minutes. The form of the service should be in accordance
with that recognised by the Church of Scotland - but that
does leave some room for personal expression, which you
should discuss with the Minister in good time.
Usually the Church is open to all during the services, so
please encourage your “evening guests” to come to the Church
service, as well as close friends and family, as the Service
is the most important part of your wedding day. See below
for the vows.
2. Preparation The Minister is happy to
advise you about the service, but also about any aspect of
your relationship. Feel free to contact him to arrange
meetings at any time.
We would love to welcome you to our Sunday worship
services:
- Our Sunday morning service is at 11.00am with a
children's Lego Sunday School during the service time.
A wedding can be a time to explore faith as you embark on
a new part of your life journey. We will let you know about
informal and relaxed opportunities to explore what faith
might mean for you, and
warmly invite you to join us!
3. Music Usually two or three hymns are sung, and
you may also wish to select music for the entry and
departure of the wedding party. This should be discussed with
the Minister in advance of you making any selection. In
addition, it is your responsibility to contact an organist
or other musician - well before the wedding - and to ensure that
they are told the hymns to be sung and the other music to be played. You can use the
hymn books in the church or use a printed Order of Service.
Hymn words can also be projected if this is requested well
in advance of your wedding date. Some hymn suggestions are
shown below - this is not an exhaustive list!
4. Flowers are a traditional part of the
wedding service. Wedding flowers are normally kept in Church
for the Sunday service, and then distributed to the
bereaved, housebound or sick of the parish who greatly
appreciate them. If you wish to do anything different from
this, and to arrange access for delivery of flowers please .
5. Photographs and Video Recordings
are welcomed subject to clearly agreed conditions:
- No flash photography during the service.
- Video cameras should be fixed in one position during the
service. Please note: It is illegal to
professionally film a wedding without a Copyright
Licence to cover the recording of any music - please
confirm this with your video operator. The Church has a
licence that will cover the printing of most hymn words,
and amateur recording.
- Photographers / Video operators must consult with the
Minister prior to the service.
- An additional fee is payable to an organist if a
professional recording of the wedding is made.
6. Fees and donations
Please bring your fees and donations in separate envelopes
to the Wedding Rehearsal.
- Organist: generally an organist determines their own
fee. Please note that the fee is +100% if a
video recording of the ceremony is to be made. You may use
alternative musicians, if agreed with minister and
organist, in which case no Organist fee
would be payable.
- Church Officer: £60
- Use of the Church: There is a minimum
contribution of £400 for the use of the church
building.
- Please make your cheques payable to ‘Crieff
Parish Church’.
- Any extra financial
donations to the church are welcomed. If you are a tax payer, we ask that
you give these donations to the Church as Gift Aid. This has
the effect of increasing the value of your gift
significantly since we can claim back extra money from
the Inland Revenue, with no extra cost to yourself.
Please enclose your completed Gift Aid form with your
donation.
Download a Gift Aid form here.
- Fees shown above are reviewed annually - those
listed are for weddings in
2024.
7. Rehearsal This should be arranged
with the Minister. Only those who are in the “wedding
party” need be present, i.e. the Bride, Groom,
Bridesmaids and Best Man or other legal witnesses, and
whoever is escorting the Bride into the Church. However
other family members are still welcome to come along if
you wish.
Please bring to the rehearsal:
- The Marriage Schedule
- Order of Service Sheets
- Fees for organist, church officer, and use of the Church (in separate envelopes)
- Any extra donation with a Gift Aid Form.
Download a Gift Aid form here.
8. Law You must comply with all the
requirements of the Church of Scotland and Civil Law. You must seek advice from the
Crieff Registrar (address below) about the requirements
as early as possible, as you need to give the Registrar a
certain amount of notice of your intention to get married
(if one party has been divorced or is a foreign citizen it
is longer.) You must obtain from the Registrar a Marriage
Schedule (sometimes called "the Licence".) On the day of the
wedding, the Minister must be in possession of the Marriage Schedule,
or the ceremony cannot go ahead. It is best to bring the
Marriage Schedule along to the Rehearsal the night
before. It is your responsibility to ensure that the
duly completed Schedule is returned to the Registrar
within three days. Please appoint someone (e.g. the Best
Man or a parent) to do this. The Minister will give them
the Schedule as soon as it has been signed by the Groom,
Bride, Minister and two Witnesses.
9. Bride's Passport If you are
travelling abroad on your honeymoon, you may wish to take
out a new passport or renew an old one. If so, you may want
your married name to be the one on the passport. You can get
a form from the Post Office for a post-dated passport
application. The Minister will fill in the form, giving
details of your planned marriage, and the Passport Office
will issue you with a passport in your married name, in
advance of the wedding.
10. Changes You must let the Minister,
Church Officer and Organist know if either of you change
your address, phone number or email, so that we can contact
you if necessary at any time before the marriage. You
must also contact the Minister if you are considering
changing the time or date of the wedding or rehearsal.
USEFUL CONTACTS (top)
MINISTER
The Rev Andrew J Philip Tel: 01764 218976
E-mail:
ORGANIST
We can supply details
FLOWER
CONVENOR
Mrs
Edie McGregor Tel: 01764 654441
CHURCH OFFICER
We have a team of Church Officers
- one will be allocated to assist during your wedding.
REGISTRATION OFFICE
Crieff Registration Office: 32 James Square, Crieff PH7 3EY Tel:
01764 657850 Fax: 01764
650171 Email:
WEDDING VOWS (top)
The Church of Scotland’s service book, Common
Order, provides three different sets of marriage vows.
You also have the option of repeating the vows, or having
the minister put them as a question, to which you reply ‘I
do’.
Here are the options available:
FIRST SET
1(a) As statements
The man says:
In the presence of God
and before these witnesses,
I, A . . . ,
give myself to you, B . . . ,
to be your husband,
and take you now
to be my wife.
I promise to love you,
to be faithful and loyal to you,
for as long as we live.
The woman
says:
In the presence of God
and before these witnesses,
I, B . . . ,
give myself to you, A . . . ,
to be your wife,
and take you now
to be my husband.
I promise to love you,
to be faithful and loyal to you,
for as long as we live.
1(b) as
questions
The minister asks:
In the presence of God
and before these witnesses,
do you, A . . . , give yourself to B . . .
to be her husband,
and take her now to be your wife?
Do you promise to love her,
to be faithful and loyal to her,
for as long as you both shall live?
The man replies:
I do.
The minister
asks:
In the presence of God
and before these witnesses,
do you, B . . . , give yourself to A . . .
to be his wife,
and take him now to be your husband?
Do you promise to love him,
to be faithful and loyal to him,
for as long as you both shall live?
The woman replies:
I do.
SECOND SET
2(a) as statements
The man says:
I, A . . . ,
take you, B . . . ,
to be my wife.
In the presence of God
and before this congregation,
I promise and covenant
to be a loving,
faithful, and loyal husband to you
so long as we both shall live.
The woman says:
I, B . . . ,
take you, A . . . ,
to be my
husband.
In the presence of God
and before this congregation,
I promise and covenant
to be a loving,
faithful, and loyal
wife to you
so long as we both shall live.
2 (b) as questions
The minister asks:
Will you, A . . . ,
take, B . . . ,
to be your wife?
In the presence of God
and before this congregation,
do you promise and covenant
to be a loving,
faithful, and loyal husband to her
so long as we both shall live?
The man replies:
I do.
The minister asks:
Will you, B . . . ,
take, A . . . ,
to be your
husband?
In the presence of God
and before this congregation,
do you promise and covenant
to be a loving,
faithful, and loyal
wife to him
so long as we both shall live?
The woman replies:
I do.
THIRD SET
3(b) as statements
The man says:
Before God,
and in the presence
of our families and friends,
I, A… , declare my love for you, B… ,
and I give myself to you
as your husband.
I you promise you my love,
my loyalty,
and my trust,
for as long as we both shall live.
The woman says:
Before God,
and in the presence
of our families and friends,
I, B… , declare my love for you, A… ,
and I give myself to you
as your wife.
I you promise you my love,
my loyalty,
and my trust,
for as long as we both shall live.
3(b) as
questions
The minister asks:
Before God,
and in the presence
of your families and friends,
do you, A… , declare your love for, B… ,
and do you give yourself to her
as her husband.
Do you promise her your love,
your loyalty,
and your trust,
for as long as you both shall live?
The man answers:
I do.
The minister asks:
Before God,
and in the presence
of your families and friends,
do you, B… , declare your love for, A… ,
and do
you give yourself to him
as
his wife.
Do you promise him your love,
your loyalty,
and your trust,
for as long as you both shall live?
The woman answers:
I do.
SOME SONGS SUITABLE FOR WEDDINGS (top)
Church Hymnary — 4th Edition (Canterbury
Press, 2005)
Click "listen" to hear the tune for the selected hymn (may not be the same words)
14 The Lord’s my Shepherd (listen)
115 Love is the touch of intangible joy (listen)
124 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation (listen)
160 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (listen)
181 For the beauty of the earth (listen)
182 Now thank we all our God (listen)
183 Fill now our life (listen)
316 Love came down at Christmas (listen)
336 Christ is our light! (listen)
462 The King of Love my Shepherd is (listen)
489 Come down, O Love Divine (listen)
519 Love Divine, all loves excelling (listen)
528 Make me a channel of your peace (listen)
536 May the mind of Christ my Saviour (listen)
695 Your love, O God, has called us here (listen)
696 We come, dear Lord, to celebrate (listen)
697 Let’s praise the Creator (listen)
698 The grace of life is theirs (listen)
699 God beyond glory (listen)
700 As man and woman we were made (listen)
Mission Praise — Combined Edition (Marshall
Pickering, 1990)
54 Bind us together Lord
60 Blessed be the tie that binds
331 In heavenly love abiding
381 Jesus, stand among us
423 Living under the shadow
449 Love Divine, all loves excelling
456 Make me a channel of your peace
517 O perfect Love
649 The King of love my Shepherd is
660 The Lord’s my Shepherd
IN CONCLUSION
These notes are intended as guidelines for busy and often
nervous couples as they prepare for, think about, and enjoy
this most important time in their lives. If there are any
concerns about any of these matters, or indeed any other
matter before or after your wedding, couples should not
hesitate to consult the Minister, either by telephone,
e-mail or personal visit by appointment.
