We are delighted that you are interested in making St. Paul’s a part of your wedding celebration! We want to do everything possible to make sure that your wedding is a wonderful and memorable occasion for you and your loved ones. Even more importantly, as you begin your new life together, we also want to do all we can to help you build the strongest possible marriage. Most importantly, we hope this will be a time in which you come to know Jesus Christ in a deeper way. With all this in mind, we have developed the following wedding guidelines to help in your thinking and planning and deciding if St. Paul’s is the church for you.

An Overview

The Bible teaches us to hold marriage in very high regard. The Book of Alternative Services summarizes Scriptural teaching this way: "Marriage is a gift of God and a means of his grace. It is a way of life that all should reverence, and none should lightly undertake." At St. Paul’s we "reverence" marriage by taking each aspect of planning and preparation seriously.

Marriage is God's good gift to humankind - both Christian and non-Christian. It was instituted by God himself and was intended from the beginning to reflect God's love and faithfulness to the whole human race. Recognizing this, St. Paul’s marriage preparation is open to people at all stages of Christian development - from the honest seeker to the committed disciple.

While Christians have no monopoly on marriage, it is Christ's living presence in a couple's life together, and mutual submission to His authority, which sets Christian marriages apart. Therefore, we are convinced that the most effective thing we can do to support marriages is to point to Jesus Christ and to help couples grow in their relationship with him. If you are already married and are seeking a Christian blessing for your marriage, we would be pleased to support you in this endeavour.

Who Gets Married at St. Paul’s?

At St. Paul’s we are committed to ensuring the highest quality of care for the couples married here. We are prepared to invest time and energy in every wedding we do. Of course, our resources are not unlimited. For this reason, we only perform weddings for members of the parish, couples who indicate a desire to become members of the parish, or in the case of couples who live in another city, who are active members of another local church.

A member of St. Paul’s is defined as someone who seeks to follow Christ as Lord, regularly attends services here and who supports the ongoing ministry of this church. If you're not a member currently, but are interested, we would love to help you. Marriage is an exciting time, and it can become a great deal more exciting and meaningful through understanding more about Jesus Christ. We warmly invite you to find out more through one of our groups (see Christian Instruction below).

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Initial Application

If you are interested in making this commitment to the church and being married at St. Paul’s, please email us: to request an Application for Marriage Preparation form to be submitted to the church office, to the attention of the Parish Ministry Coordinator. If possible, we will tentatively reserve space in the church, pending review of your application. A member of the clergy team will call you at this point to advise you of the next steps and confirm your requested wedding date.

Officiating Ministers

Ordinarily St. Paul’s clergy perform all weddings in the church or chapel. We cannot guarantee that a specific clergy person will officiate at your wedding, but rest assured we can guarantee that one of our clergy will be assigned to support you, based on availability and the information you provide in your initial application.

Date and Time of Your Wedding

Choosing the right day and time for your wedding is an important detail. Weddings at St. Paul’s are performed only on Saturdays. To allow for photographs, clean-up and set-up, at least three hours must be allowed between weddings and there will be a maximum of two weddings on any given day. Weddings are not performed during the week before Easter or the month of December. We need at least six months notice to schedule a wedding. Date and time slots are filled only upon confirmation of commitment and are done on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Marriage Preparation

"Your wedding is one day - your marriage is a lifetime." At St. Paul’s, we want all the couples married here to have the strongest possible marriage. To help you achieve this goal, we require that you participate in the parish's programme of marriage preparation. Our current program involves the Alpha Marriage Preparation Course: a five-evening course including dinner which helps you to not only grow into what a Christian marriage entails, but flourish. During this time, you as a couple will have the opportunity to discuss everything from communication to spiritual concerns. A skilled and dedicated pastoral team lead the programme and work with the clergy to help focus discussion, give direction and encouragement. In addition to the course, couples are required to fill out, and discuss with a pastoral staff member the FOCCUSS questionnaire, which will help you grow in communication and understanding toward building a strong foundation for your marriage. This questionnaire will be given to you in your first meeting with the lead pastor of marriage preparation at St. Paul’s.

Christian Instruction

Many couples have found the months before their wedding to be a time of spiritual searching and growth. With this in mind, everyone married at St. Paul’s is requested to complete a basic course in the Christian faith (if you haven't already done so). Please discuss available options with a minister or the Parish Ministry Coordinator.

Legal Requirements

You may pick up a Marriage Licence at any City Hall in Ontario. The cost varies according to municipality. In Toronto it is $130 plus G.S.T. It is not necessary for both of you to go, but you must have proper identification for both of you and your Certificate(s) of Divorce if applicable. It is valid for 90 days. If you are to be married at St. Paul’s, this licence must be in the St. Paul’s Church Office, marked “wedding licence,” at least two weeks before the wedding service.

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Divorce/Remarriage

If either of you has been divorced, attention will be given to your special pastoral needs. A form is available from the minister or Parish Ministry Coordinator for you to complete, reflecting on the issues of the divorce. Permission for remarriage in the Anglican Church must be obtained from the Rector of the parish. This procedure takes a minimum of three months.

Official Marriage Certificate

As a memento of your wedding, a Certificate of Marriage will be given to you by the officiating minister. Please note, however, that this is not an official legal certificate. Application for the official certificate should be obtained as you file for your marriage licence (see Legal Requirements above). The marriage certificate is issued by the Province of Ontario, but usually these forms can be obtained at the same place where you apply for your marriage licence.

Service Details

The Order of Service - Normally the order of service will follow either The Book of Common Prayer or The Book of Alternative Services. Participation by non-parish clergy or musicians within the service is limited to only a number of specific roles, subject to direction by the officiating minister. St. Paul’s reserves the right to choose what participation is appropriate.

Church Decorations - As part of our service to you, the flowers for the High Altar for the coming Sunday are coordinated with you as much as possible. The Flower Convenor, a member of the St. Paul’s Chancel Guild, will be glad to discuss your request with you (contact information will be provided once your wedding date has been confirmed). You are welcome to bring in additional flower arrangements and pew decorations at your expense. These belong to you and can be taken with you for your Reception if you wish. The church also has a pair of candelabra that you may borrow if you provide standard dripless candles.

No Confetti, Please - in consideration of the church property, you are asked to ensure that no confetti, rice, flower petals or birdseed is thrown either in or about the church facilities.

Photographs and Video - Photographs and video are a welcome way to preserve special memories of your wedding. We must ask you, however, to remind your photographer and guests to respect this sacred space and the dignity of the service by not taking flash pictures during the actual ceremony. Guests may take all the photos they want during the Processional, Recessional, and the Signing of the Registers.

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Wedding Music

Arrangements for the music are in the hands of the Music Director, Eric Robertson. He is available to discuss with you hymns and other music you'd like to have included. He is also available to make suggestions and, if you have no requests for particular music, will be happy to make appropriate selections for you. All music must be suitable for a service of worship in the church. Please note, the organist should be consulted at least four weeks before your wedding and prior to your making arrangements for soloists or other instrumentalists.

Costs

We offer an all-inclusive fee that includes honorariums for the Organist, Verger and Minister as well as a contribution towards the cost of altar flowers and additional cleaning. Because of some exceptionally late starts in the past and out of consideration for other couples, we have added a late-start deposit. It will be refunded after the wedding if we begin no later than 15 minutes late. Please let the Parish Ministry Coordinator, Ingrid Suld, know when you provide the deposit whether you would prefer to have the cheque destroyed or returned to you the day of your wedding.

Basic Fee.................................................... $1500.00
Late-start Deposit........................................ $100.00

Questions? Comments?

As you plan your wedding, we are here to help in any way we can. After reading these guidelines, please speak to the Parish Ministry Coordinator if you have any questions or comments. Ingrid can be contacted at 416-961-8116 ext. 223, or click the button: to send an e-mail.

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