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Congratulations if you’ve recently got engaged or are thinking about getting married. We would love to help you with your plans. Church weddings are always a joyous way to celebrate a marriage commitment to each other before God and your friends and family.  Saint Mark’s Southend-on-Sea is a beautiful and atmospheric setting for a wedding.

A church ceremony does not have to be a grand affair, although it can be if you wish, and the costs of the service may not be as high as you think.

If you are a man and woman planning to get married and you live in our parish of Westcliff Saint Alban and Southend Saint Mark you are entitled, by law, to be married at Saint Mark’s even if you have not previously had a connection with the church. If you live outside the parish then the rules require a qualifying connection such as your parents having lived in the parish or your parents or grandparents getting married at Saint Mark’s. Get in touch for all the different connections that might qualify you.   If you have been married before and are seeking to get married again it is best to talk to us first to see whether that will be possible.

For lesbian or gay couples we are very pleased to be able to offer a service of Thanksgiving and Dedication after a civil marriage or civil partnership and we would love to help you celebrate your commitment to each other before God with your friends and family.  You do not need to live in the parish to ask us about this.

If one of you is transgender and you are marrying someone of the same gender, or you do not have a Gender Recognition Certificate, we are pleased to be able to offer a service of Thanksgiving and Dedication after a civil marriage or civil partnership.  If you are marrying someone of the opposite gender your wedding can also take place at Saint Alban’s, under the same requirements as above, as long as you have a gender recognition certificate.

Do get in touch with us about any of the above and one of our clergy team will ensure you have the right information and make sure you have the practical and pastoral support you need for thinking about and planning this important day.  Whatever your circumstances are, please be assured that you will be embraced, in confidence, with sensitivity and understanding.

God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)