YOUR WEDDING CEREMONY

Careful advance planning will enhance the solemnity and joyfulness of your wedding. As you start to plan your wedding ceremony, please return your completed worksheet to the church office. Then contact the church secretary at 644-0833 to arrange a premarital conversation with your officiating pastor. This conversation will enable one of our pastors to learn more about you and your thoughts concerning your marriage. Your wedding date will then be placed on the church calendar. In the months before your wedding, you should plan to meet at least twice with your officiating pastor to discuss your wedding ceremony and your coming marriage. We hope that these premarital conversations will give you a chance to better explore your relationship with each other and the place of God in your marriage.

WEDDING MUSIC

Music is an integral part of the wedding ceremony. It sets the mood and tempo for the service. It also serves to bring participants and the congregation together in the spirit of worship. In light of this, the music for your ceremony is expected to be appropriate for the occasion. Selections should add to the dignity of the service and highlight the love that comes from God and is shared between God's children. Generally speaking, contemporary music (pop tunes) is not acceptable because it does not add an air of dignity appropriate to the occasion.

Please leave a message in the organist's mailbox as soon as the wedding date has been set. The Organist will assist you in selecting music that is appropriate for the service as well as special for you. It is expected that the Church Organist or her approved substitute will play for the wedding rehearsal and ceremony. Another organist may participate in the wedding ceremony with the approval of the Church Organist.

Vocal or instrumental soloists can add greatly to the service. Here again, care should be taken to select appropriate music. You may want to consider including the singing of congregational hymns in your service. Selection of the ceremony's music should be arranged several weeks ahead of the wedding between the organist and couple (and soloist) to allow adequate rehearsal time. A couple may, of course, choose not to have music at their service.

THE MARRIAGE LICENSE

The state of Connecticut has established laws regarding marriage. A proper license is required before proceeding with the marriage celebration. A blood test and marriage license is required by the Marriage License Laws of Connecticut. Please contact the South Windsor Town Clerk (644-2511) to learn the exact procedures and rules for acquiring a marriage license. We recommend that you make application for the license at least one month prior to the wedding.

Please deliver the marriage license to the Pastor before or at your rehearsal. After the wedding, you will be given a "Certificate of Marriage" from the Church. The Pastor will sign and return the license to the Town Clerk. Photocopies may be procured from that office about a week after the wedding.

GUEST MINISTERS

It is a matter of professional courtesy that if the bride or groom wishes to have a pastor from another church or a clergy from another faith share in the wedding service, the invitation should come from a pastor of Wapping Community Church. Usually, the pastor will be pleased to extend such an invitation.

INTERFAITH CEREMONIES

Our ecumenical and inter-faith relationships are important to us as a church. If you and your fiancee are of different faiths, we hope that Wapping Community Church is a place where you may feel comfortable having a wedding ceremony that is blessed by God but also acknowledges your different faith backgrounds.

NON-MEMBER

We welcome the weddings of non-members when the couple is committed to the Christian faith and to the Christian Church. It is expected that all couples, including non-members, will share as actively as possible in the worship life of Wapping especially in the months preceding the wedding. Also, as a matter of Christian stewardship, we expect a minimum gift of $200 in support of the ministry and mission of the church. Please prayerfully consider the amount of your gift because your generosity enables us to further our mission of service to the community and world.

THE WEDDING REHEARSAL

Your wedding rehearsal is a time to go through the order of service with the entire wedding party. The entire bridal party should be present, including soloists and readers. The pastor will answer any questions and clarify out any last minute details. The rehearsal is under the direction of the officiating pastor.

Please bring your marriage license and honoraria and fees for the pastor, organist, and sexton. Honoraria and fees should be placed in separate envelopes, marked with the appropriate names, and given to the pastor. Also, if unity candles or worship bulletins will be used in your ceremony, please bring them to your rehearsal.