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Message from the Rector
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| Contemplating
marriage is equally wonderful but something which whilst it
can and should be exciting, can be awesome and for some, overwhelming.
There is a certain romanticism about a beautiful wedding and
many people spend considerable time and money on the wedding
ceremony and celebrations, but not in the important task of
contemplating the implications of the marriage vows and the
challenges of remaining in a faithful marriage for the rest
of one’s life. |
 
 

At St. Mary’s, we endeavour to share in the
wonder, the excitement and to a degree, the romanticism of this
wonderful day of a couple's marriage. We also seek to go beyond
that and offer pastoral care and professional assistance which assures
each individual and couple that they are in a process which is deeply
personal, confidential and enriching. We offer to each couple the
promise that we are here to walk life with each couple after the
wedding.
St. Mary’s is not a wedding chapel. It is a Parish Church
and spiritual home to thousands of people from around the world.
Whilst the Priest conducting the ceremony is a Licenced Celebrant,
he or she is in fact, a Priest of the Anglican Church of Australia
and is committed to an ongoing care of, and availability to, all
who are married at St. Mary’s.
Christian marriage is a sacrament for life with God, assuring all
of divine blessing for the walk of life in the context of marriage.
We at St. Mary’s know that the ideal for marriage is lifelong
faithfulness and mutual joy for the whole of life’s journey.
We also know that this ideal is not always attained and for some,
the painful occurrence of divorce is a sad reality. We work with
that reality and offer couples assistance in crisis and the assurance
of working towards healing and where sought, permission to remarry
in the Anglican Church.
We welcome your enquiry about marriage St. Mary’s and look
forward to meeting you in person, and if possible, sharing in the
joy of your wedding and the honour of walking life’s journey
with you into the future.
May God bless you.
Fr Stephen Redhead
Rector
The extraordinary charm and ambience of St Marys church
complements the dignity and importance of the liturgical marriage
ceremony for both participants and guests.
Welcoming and refined, with decades of tradition, this domestically
scaled church strikes a comfortable chord in all. Timbers and stone
combine with music and floral enhancement to provide an atmosphere
that leads to full engagement by all in the importance of the marriage
ceremony.
The dignity of approach, the meaningfulness of prayer, the import
of selected readings, the sincerity of commitment, and the joyousness
of occasion, all combine to make a wedding a memorable event.
A unique blend of organ and grand piano, and sometimes choral and
instrumental accompaniment, underscore the idyllic wedding setting
that is St Marys .The surrounds of the church provide ample opportunity
for church and garden based photography of the occasion, particularly
during customary drinks on the cliff top lawn at the front door
of the church over looking the botanical gardens reach of the Brisbane
River.
Arranging your marriage
Couples considering marriage at St Marys are encouraged
to read and absorb the information in the documents scheduled and
linked below. Those documents should clarify most issues that wedding
location planning raises, and simplify the path to a successful
set of arrangements.
Basic information is contained in the booklet “Wedding
information leaflet”
The schedule of available dates and currently booked wedding days
at St Marys for 2006/7 identifies timing possibilities. On occasion
bookings have been lodged up to 15 months ahead, so specific popular
dates may need some forward planning, but the schedule also shows
many available dates throughout each year. Previous restraints on
weddings during Lent no longer apply, although the schedule notes
some unavailability during Holy Week, and on some specific parish
activity days, eg., the parish festival, and choral and musical
events. (Click
here to download ”wedding booking availability schedule “)
It will also be seen that the variable daily timing of weddings
in 2006, has migrated to fixed on-hour timing for all future bookings
for 2007 onwards. These are 11am, 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm Saturdays, and
1pm and 3pm, Fridays and Sundays.
Once a preferred date has been selected from those available, couples
forward a completed
request form to office@stmarys.org.au or by post . This is acknowledged,
as is receipt of the deposit, and the marriage date and time is
conditionally confirmed subject to the outcome of the couple attending
a pre wedding seminar briefing, and a separate personal meeting
with the Rector, or your alternative Anglican Priest celebrant,
at a time to be scheduled.
A package of information is forwarded to the couple prior to that
pre-wedding seminar briefing. The content, also downloadable from
these links, to assist with consideration of a wedding at St Marys,
is as follows:- ( downloadable items shown red)
•
Wedding information leaflet
•
Wedding booking availability schedule of dates and times
• Church
seating capacity guide
•
Request for ceremony form
• Divorced person request for marriage form available on request
from Parish office
•
Marriage preparation course brochure and application form, two pages
• Order
of Marriage Service draft
• Suggested
readings for service
• Popular
poems on marriage and love for service
• Music guide
to St Marys wedding music
•
Music selection record sheet of couple’s choices for music
•
Extra music vocal (choir or soloist) and./or solo instrumentalist
accompaniment request form
• Drinks
and food served on the lawn after the service request form
• Agenda for pre wedding seminar at St Marys form
• form for arranging personal meeting with Rector Fr Stephen
• Wedding details information record
•
Administrative details check list
• Drivers
guide for wedding party vehicles
• Location map for St
Marys and guest parking
•
Marriage Act form 13 pages 1 to 4
•
Marriage Act form 14 brochure “Happily ever after” pages
1 and 2
• Line drawing image of St Marys for order of service etc
booklet
•
Black and white photo image and short history of St Marys for similar
use
This information package is also available by mail upon request
Consideration of the content of this information package will identify
most issues requiring decisions by couples about preparation for
their marriage, and about St Marys as your place of celebration
in particular. Issues facing a choice or acquisition/provision are:-
• original birth certificates or official extracts
• certified copies of baptism certificates where applicable
• completed Marriage Act 1961 form 13
• dates of pre wedding seminar
• date of personal meeting with Rector as celebrant
• date of marriage preparation course
• choice of order of marriage service, prayers, hymns, music,
poems, readings
• choices of pew ribbons, candle lighting
• drinks, light food on the lawn
• wedding rehearsal date/time reservation
• ringing of church bell
The day
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