Weddings & Christenings

Your Church Wedding at St Peter’s Woolley

We pride ourselves on giving you the best of beginnings, by helping you prepare carefully for your Marriage Service, and by trying to meet your needs as best we can.

Who may marry at St Peter’s. Woolley?
You have a right to marry at St Peter’s if one of you has your usual place of residence within the church parish of Woolley with West Bretton.
You do not need to have been baptised.

To see a map of the parish boundary, please click here. (You may need to Zoom Out to see the full parish boundary).
Please note that although the new housing development at Woolley Grange is in the civic parish of Woolley, it is in the church parish of Darton.
This right to marry does not extend to those who have a former partner still alive. However, at St Peter’s we are happy to conduct the marriage of a divorced person, following procedures laid down by the Church of England. Please phone for more information.

If you don’t live in the parish, but have connections with St Peter’s, new legislation gives you the right to marry here if you can demonstrate a “qualifying connection” of a kind specified in The Marriage Measure.

You have a Qualifying Connection with St Peter’s if you:
• were baptised here;
or
• had your confirmation entered in our register; or
• have at any time had your usual place of residence in the church parish for at least 6 months;
or
• have at any time habitually attended public worship here for at least 6 months;
or
one of your parents has at any time during your lifetime:
• had their usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months;
or
• habitually attended public worship at St Peter’s for at least 6 months;
or
• your parents or grandparents were married at St Peter’s
Please phone if you’d like to know more.

When may we get married?
By law you need to give at least a month’s notice, to allow time for publishing your banns of marriage (a legal preliminary).  If either of you is not a UK citizen, banns will not be possible as a preliminary – instead you will need to get a Licence from the Register Office.
Of course, couples usually plan much further ahead than this! But they often find that booking a Reception is the main problem, rather than booking the church.
By law, Marriage Services must be conducted between 8am and 6pm, any day of the week. So, you may marry on a Sunday if that helps, but it would need to be after 12.30pm on a Sunday.

How much does it cost?
The fees for a Marriage Service are set by Act of Parliament. The fees for 2023 are £539.00, which includes your Marriage Document (to be given to Wakefield Register Office) and the fee for publishing your banns at Woolley. There are additional fees which include having an organist and church bells etc. these will be discussed with you when you meet our priest.

How do we go about it?
If you think you qualify to have your marriage service at St Peter’s, Woolley, simply phone 01924 256031 to make an appointment to meet with Revd Kevin Greaves who will talk you through the rest of the procedure.

Christenings (also called Baptisms)

In the Church of England we are pleased to welcome any child for baptism.

How do we go about it?
If you would like your child baptised at St Peter’s, Woolley, please make an appointment with Revd Kevin Greaves on phone 01924 256031 to discuss things. More information can be found on the following page :  https://www.stjameschapelthorpe.org.uk/baptisms/baptism/