Weddings and naming ceremonies

Weddings

How we can help

Godalming Unitarians have a Lay Leader and lay persons authorised by the Registrar to formalise weddings at the Chapel. Within the legal requirements, the wording and Order of Service can be of your own choosing. We can help with the selection of prose, readings, prayers and poems for the ceremony. If you would like some musical content, we can arrange for an organist or pianist to play for you.

Important Information

Each of you must visit the Registrar in the district where you live between 12 months and 15 clear days before your wedding, to give notice of your intention to marry and to obtain your Authority of Marriage. If you live in different areas this may mean visiting different Registrars. You cannot marry without these legal documents. (In the Guildford area call 0300 200 1002 for an appointment.) The two official witnesses to a wedding must be aged 16 or over. The person conducting your wedding at our Chapel must be a representative of the Unitarian Church, either a Minister, Lay Leader or an authorised lay person.

What happens next

Your first step is a telephone call to the Weddings Secretary, Christine Hayhurst on 01483 419577 or you can email her at chris.hayhurst@tiscali.co.uk You will be asked a few basic details including the date on which you would like to be married. If the date is free, a provisional booking can be made together with an appointment for an informal discussion. No firm booking can be made until this meeting has taken place. Generally three meetings will take place before the wedding. The first is an informal discussion of the options available; at the second the plans will be reviewed and developed, and the third takes the form of a rehearsal. You can see the Chapel, Church hall and grounds on any Sunday before or after the service or by arrangement with the Weddings Secretary. Our Chapel dates back to 1783 and visitors often comment on its intimacy, simplicity and serenity.

Sunday Services

If you are considering a wedding at our Chapel, we warmly invite you to attend a Sunday service. From September 2010 we meet every Sunday at 11:00 am. The service lasts approximately one hour and is followed by tea, coffee and conversation in the Hall.