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Parochial Fees

Church Wedding Fees from 1 January 2013: a note from the archdeacons

As you may have read, General Synod has approved a new table of Parochial Fees that will come into effect on 1 January 2013.

The full fees table will be published in its final form in due course. The purpose of this note is to give some basic information about wedding fees, because that is the most important piece of information that is going to be of concern to clergy, PCCs and couples at this early stage.

There has been some publicity about what seems to be a big increase in the basic wedding fee. Please remember that the aim of the reform has been to standardise fees nationally. The national group working on fees has tried to set them at a level that reflects the realistic cost of ministry and the availability of the church building. In fact, some churches have previously been charging extras that put their parish’s combined usual fees and charges well above the new figure — so, in those parishes, the expense to couples will actually decrease.

Couples booking a wedding for 2013 should be informed that the set fee will be £402. For 2014 it will be £414.

By law, the new standard fee will include ALL the essentials of a wedding service, and it will be illegal to charge any unauthorised ‘extras’.

Among the items that the new fee includes are the service of ministers; use of the church and all relevant equipment; permission on behalf of the church to take videos and photographs; lighting; publication of banns at the church where the marriage is to take place; registration and administration.

Items that may be charged extra — but only at a realistic level — are those that are genuinely optional. They include heating, and fees to musicians, bellringers, flower arrangers and vergers. Fees for musicians, vergers etc. may only be charged at the same amount that is passed on to the individuals concerned (grossed up for employers’ NI where the PCC would otherwise be liable). There may be other non-church-related charges that couples have to pay, e.g. video copyright charges: they are a separate matter and are outside the scope of this note.

The archdeacons are aware of a number of extra charges that certain churches have imposed in the past. Some of these extra charges are unlawful already. They include (for example) non-returnable deposits; surcharging couples who live outside the parish or who book a Sunday wedding; turning on sound equipment; allowing photographs; ‘contributions’ to the upkeep of the building, organ and bells or to administration. Please note that it is a legal requirement that these charges, and others like them, must stop.

Please do contact us if you have any queries at this stage. More information will be made available in due course about other changes in Parochial Fees that will come into effect in 2013.

There’s more information on this at the CofE’s Weddings Project website, although please note that this page hasn’t been updated with the new fees yet. If you are not aware of the Weddings Project, do have a look around the website – the project aims to help churches with their weddings ministries and encouraging couples to become part of their church family.

Richard Seed, Paul Ferguson, David Butterfield