WEDDINGS

Thank you for choosing Westminster United Church (WUC) as the location for your wedding!

As a congregation and staff, we are happy to be a part of this important celebration of commitment, joy, and your promise to one another.

WUC celebrates the diversity of God’s creation, and we believe that all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions are part of God’s divine plan. All people are included in God’s divine plan, and Westminster affirms the right of all people to be married.

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Requirements for a Wedding at Westminster United Church

    1. PREMARRIAGE COURSE: You are required to attend a pre-marriage online course or arrange with the Minister

    2. MEETING WITH THE MINISTER: You are required to attend one or more personal interviews with the Minister

    3. MARRIAGE LICENSE: The law in the Province of Ontario requires a marriage license or the publication of banns. A marriage license is valid for three months and may be purchased at any city or town hall in Ontario. Westminster United Church requires that you deliver the license to the church office no later than three weeks prior to the wedding.

  • Westminster United Church requires that you submit a NON – REFUNDABLE administrative booking fee of $100.00 by cash, cheque, or e-transfer when you reserve your wedding date. This amount will be later deducted from the total amount owing after your event.

    Sanctuary: $350.00  (includes rehearsal)

    Officiating Minister: $300.00 (on site)  $350.00 (off site)

    Music Director: $250.00 (wedding only) OR $300.00 (with rehearsal or off-site)

    Custodial Services: $ 40.00

    House Manager: $40

    Sound/Projection Technician: $ 75.00

    Live Streaming: $50.00

  • For further information please contact our administrative coordinator at

    519-941-0381 or e-mail us at westminster@westminsterorangeville.ca

The Marriage Ceremony

 

    • The Minister of WUC is responsible to perform all weddings or will arrange for a substitute in his/her/their absence.

    • The Minister will meet with the couple to discuss the content of the marriage ceremony.

    • The Minister shall conduct only the marriage liturgies that are in keeping with the approved liturgies of the United Church of Canada.

    • The couple will be required to show proof of pre-marriage training to the Minister.

    • The Minister reserves the right to refuse to marry any couple for reasons of professional ethics, serious incompatibility of the couple, or failure to agree to the guidelines established by WUC.

    • The Ontario Law states that the officiating Minister must refuse to marry a couple when there is suspicion of intoxication by way of alcohol, drugs, or other substances.

    • WUC recognizes that you may have a clergy person that has a special influence in your life that you may wish to be included in the wedding ceremony. We are happy to include that person. The couple is to present the name to the officiating minister and he/she/they will issue the invitation to the guest clergy and consult on what role he/she/they will play in the ceremony.

    • The WUC fee for the minister is still required to be paid even if another minister has been invited to share in the wedding.

Music for your Wedding

 

    • Our Music Director has the first right to play or refuse all weddings at WUC.

    • If the Music Director is unavailable to play at your wedding, then an alternate musician will be chosen in consultation with the Music Director.

    • In addition to our Music Director, we understand that you may have a musician in your life that is special to you and you may want to have that person be included in the wedding. It is the policy of our church that the Music Director must be consulted about sharing the musical ministry of your wedding. 

    • The WUC fee for the Music Director is still required to be paid even if another musician has been invited to share in the wedding.

    • Since all of the wedding music, both vocal and instrumental, is an integral part of the wedding service, a suitable selection will be made or suggested and confirmed by the Music Director, in consultation with the couple well in advance of the ceremony. 

    • A Grand Piano and a Casavant Pipe Organ are used in the Sanctuary of Westminster United Church.

    • In order to maintain the sacredness of the wedding ceremony, flash pictures are not permitted during the wedding ceremony. 

    • The Minister shall approve the location and operation of all photographic and video equipment to be used during the wedding ceremony.

    • Westminster will provide a sound technician for microphones and recorded music.

    • If soloists, readers, or instrumentalists are part of the ceremony, a sound check will be required.

Additional Offerings

 

    • The Minister will assist the couple with the preparation of a wedding bulletin or programme if desired.

    • The couple is solely responsible for purchasing and producing the bulletins.

    • Religious and stationery stores carry appropriate products.

    • The couple is welcome to have a decorator come to the church or decorate the church themselves.  Arrangements for time of decorating can be made through the church office.

    • The church will be open one hour prior to the wedding to facilitate the delivery of flowers.

    • We ask that if you are having decorations on the pews that you do not use tape or wire in order to avoid damaging the woodwork.

    • When there are two weddings on one day, the second wedding couple must make arrangements with the office to book a time for decorating the church in between the two ceremonies.

    • Each wedding party must make arrangements to have the church decorations removed from the church immediately following the ceremony. 

    • Please Note:  Confetti, rice, or rose petals are not permitted on church property.

    • WUC supplies the two altar candles for the ceremony.

    • WUC has a candelabra, and if you wish to use this, you need to provide candles for it.

    • If you are using the family/unity candles, candles and holders are to be supplied.

Weddings Outside The Church

People often request offsite weddings. There is no United Church policy preventing such marriage services. It is the staff clergy person’s prerogative to decide if he/she/they will perform this service.

Bookings

To book your upcoming wedding either on or off site, please call Westminster United Church at 519-941-0381 or email westminster@westminsterorangeville.ca.