Getting Married in Luss Parish Church, Loch Lomond

This is your very special day, and Luss is a very special Church in which to celebrate your wedding. St Kessog knew what he was doing choosing Luss, on the romantic and beautiful banks of Loch Lomond, in 510 AD. Thanks to him, the Christian faith has been ongoing in Luss for over one thousand five hundred years. Can you imagine the numbers who have come, like you, to Luss to have their union blessed before God, and who have returned for the baptisms of their children over time?

The following frequently asked questions should help you decide if a Church Wedding is what you want. If so, we in Luss are here to ensure that it will be, for you, that very special and memorable day.

Who can get married in Luss Parish Church?

Traditionally, people would get married within their own parish. However, Luss Church is open to everyone who would like to be married in this beautiful church on the banks of Loch Lomond.

How do I start the process?

The best way to start your planning for a wedding in Luss Church is to come to our 11.30am Sunday morning service and, after the service, stay for coffee – everyone in the congregation does! Then you will have an opportunity of discussing your plans with the Wedding Coordinator immediately after the Service. Of course, you may not be able to get to Luss immediately and that is why an application form is included at the end of this document. Fill it in, send it off and the process of planning your wedding has begun. If we can, we will normally be delighted to arrange your wedding. We will want to be sure that you are fully aware that a Wedding Service in Luss Parish Church is a religious service; that you will be making your promises before God; and that you will be coming to receive God's blessing on the marriage into which you are entering.

We will also want to be sure that you are happy with the Church's view of marriage as the entering into of a loving commitment for life between two people. We will not, however, expect or require you to become a member of the Church if you are not a member, although we may seek to establish links between you and your own local Church to ensure that there is a congregation and a minister to whom you may turn in the future and who will be happy to welcome you into the life of their congregation. It is important that both people wishing to be married come to one or more of our services, not least because you will want to be sure that the style of worship which is offered here is appropriate for your special day.

Marriages will not be arranged until we have had the opportunity of consulting both parties.

It is also important that if you have been married before, you let us know at this stage. Under present Church of Scotland regulations, depending on the circumstances, Ministers are allowed to marry people who have been divorced, subject to their own consciences. So, the fact that you have been divorced will not necessarily debar you from getting married in Luss Parish Church. Once we agree to arrange your wedding, the first thing to be determined is the date. Because there are a number of wedding requests in our parish, and because you will also have reception arrangements to make, this date may often be quite a way in the future.

Who will marry us?

The wedding vows will be solemnised by the Parish Minister or, if he is not available, then by a Minister from within Clyde Presbytery.

As said earlier, your wedding service in Luss Parish Church is a religious service and, as such, the arrangements for the service itself are in the hands of the Minister. He will, however, wish to discuss the service with you and will normally be happy to include within the Service items which you have chosen. In particular, he will want to be sure that the hymns used during the service are ones with which you are familiar and, if there are hymns which have a special meaning for you, he will be happy to include them, providing that they are appropriate for the wedding service! He will also be glad to know if there is particular music which you would like to have played as you enter and exit the Church. At wedding services in Luss, the organ is played by the Organist provided by the Church and you will be able to discuss your music requirements with the organist. Once all the details of the wedding have been finalised, you may wish to have an Order of Service (some people call it a Hymn Sheet) printed. It is important that you do not do this before all the details have been finalised.

What is the role of the Registrar?

About three months before the date of your wedding, you should make contact with the local Registrar to complete the appropriate forms which will result in a Wedding Schedule being issued to you by the Registrar in the week of your wedding. This Wedding Schedule is very important, and without it no marriage can take place. The Registrar for marriages at Luss Parish Church is:

Full Birth Certificates will be required, together with, where applicable, Certificate of Divorce or Certificate of Death of a former spouse. There are fees payable to the Registrar in connection with your documentation.

Is there a rehearsal?

A wedding rehearsal before the wedding will be arranged. This rehearsal is absolutely essential and is not an optional extra! In fact, it is on this occasion that the minister will explain to you in detail everything that happens during the wedding service, and its significance. It's appropriate to do this at this stage; any earlier and you may have forgotten by the day of the wedding – and as a result of this rehearsal it is hoped that you will be able to relax and enjoy your wedding. Normally, wedding rehearsals are scheduled for 6 p.m. on the day before the wedding – by this time most of those who will be taking part have arrived in the area and, following the rehearsal, you will have plenty of time left to enjoy the evening before your wedding.

Who should come to the rehearsal?

Obviously, the Bride and Groom, but also the Bride's father (if the Bride is walking down the aisle on her father's arm), the Bridesmaids (including any children and flower-girls who need to be given positions to stand), the Best Man, and any other people who are taking part by, for example, reading or singing.

What is the format of the Wedding Ceremony?

Not every wedding is the same but, usually, your service will start with some words of welcome and the first hymn. This will be followed by a general introduction about marriage during which the Church's view of marriage as part of God's plan for us will be expressed; we will remind ourselves that marriage is a lifelong commitment of two people to each other; that in this new relationship both partners will blossom and grow through each other's love; that children may be born and that society itself is strongest where marriage is honoured. We will also remind ourselves that as this is a Christian marriage, we believe that God is present with us in the ceremony and that as we are starting this marriage in prayer, so we undertake to continue to share our lives with God in prayer, to bring our children up to love God and to commit ourselves totally to each other. Naturally, these words are followed by a prayer (the first of two prayers in the wedding service). This prayer asks God to be with you as you make your wedding vows. At this point, everyone in the congregation will be asked to stand, and they will be expected to remain standing throughout the promises, the exchange of rings and the blessing. This is because this is the central and most important part of the wedding ceremony and, in our tradition, whenever something particularly holy happens, we stand. The minister will ask you to join hands and to make your promises to each other. Normally, you will repeat the promise phrase by phrase after the minister.

Usually, the promise is as follows:

I, Adam, take you, Eve, to be my wife and in the presence of God, and before these witnesses, I promise and covenant to be a loving and faithful husband to you as long as we both shall live. I, Eve, take you, Adam, to be my husband and in the presence of God, and before these witnesses, I promise and covenant to be a loving and faithful wife to you as long as we both shall live.

You'll see that the promise is the same for both male and female and the minister will point out that 'covenant' is a much-loved church word, rich in theological meaning, for 'to make a binding agreement.' After the promises comes the exchange of rings. You may be asked to say the following words as you give your partner a ring:

I give you this ring in God's name, as a symbol of all that we have promised, and all that we shall share. The minister may also say the traditional words: By these signs you take each other, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, for as long as you live.

At this point, the minister will join your hands together and declare you to be married, repeating the injunction: 'Those whom God has joined together, no one must separate.'

The minister will now require you, as your first act together as a married couple, to kneel to receive God's blessing. This is why you have come to be married in Church – to make your promises before God, to share your special day with him, and now, the very best bit of the whole service, to receive God's blessing on your coming together as husband and wife. And you kneel because it is your way of taking part in this blessing; it isn't something which happens over your head 'whether you like it or not' – but you seek this blessing and consent to it by kneeling in front of the whole congregation.

The blessing will either be spoken by the minister or sung by the congregation, after which you will stand once more, and the congregation will be seated. If there are three hymns, the second one will normally be sung at this point, after which there will sometimes be an address and there will certainly be a word of congratulation.

This leads on to the second part of the service which consists of appropriate readings and the second and final prayer. We will provide recommendations for appropriate readings but you are not limited to these; we will also normally be happy to agree to one of your family or friends reading in the service itself. The final prayer is a prayer asking God to be with you throughout the adventure which you have begun on your wedding day, asking God to be with you in the good times and in the more difficult times which may lie ahead. It's again underlining the idea of a three-way partnership which begins with your marriage.

Finally, everyone will sing the last hymn and the minister will invite you and your wedding party (Best Man, Bridesmaids, possibly parents, depending on your wishes) to gather round the table while the wedding documents are signed. While the documents are being signed, the organist will play some appropriate music. Some couples have a family friend whom they invite to sing at this point. If you would like to have this in your wedding, please do discuss the matter first with the Church and, if appropriate, with the organist. What is proposed should be appropriate for a service of worship and a celebration of marriage. Meanwhile, around the table, the bridegroom will have signed his normal signature, the bride, regardless of what she has decided to call herself after her marriage, will sign her maiden name (the name she has used for all of the years up to this point), and the two witnesses, both of whom have been present at the service and are over the age of sixteen, will sign their normal signatures and fill in their full names and addresses. Normally, the witnesses are either the Best Man and Bridesmaid or two of the parents. Their signatures are important because under Scots Law it is their witnessing the fact that you have declared your intention to live as husband and wife that completes the marriage contract. After a pause for a photograph, the organist will strike up the final wedding music, the Church bell will ring to tell the world that you are married, and you will walk out of the Church as husband and wife.

Are we allowed to have photographs taken of our wedding?

Yes, the photographer will be advised about what is permitted, but providing the camera is not intrusive and does not use flash there will not be a problem. It is good to have pictures of the service as well as at the door and at the reception because these will remind you of the important promises which you have made on your wedding day.

Are we allowed to have a video of our wedding?

Again yes, providing that the siting of the camera and the operator is unobtrusive and uses only available light. The photographer/videographer is not permitted to move around the church during the service.

How much does it cost to get married in Luss Parish Church?

There are two charges depending upon whether you live within the parish of Luss (or are a member of Luss Parish Church) or not. If you live within our parish there is no charge for the use of the Church and the only charge to be met is for the Organist and Beadle (Church Officer) which at present is set at £100 each.

If you live outside the parish there is an all-inclusive fee of £900 which covers the cost of the Organist, Beadle, heating, lighting, cleaning and which includes a contribution to the ongoing maintenance and continued renovation of this beautiful village Church. Of this £900, £100 is required as a non-returnable deposit; the remainder of £800 is due six weeks before the date of the wedding. (This deposit is required because weddings have been cancelled and right up until the day of the rehearsal we have not been told – by which time the Church has been made beautiful for the weddings and others have been denied that date). No wedding can be considered to have been 'booked' until this deposit has been received by the Church.

What about flowers for the Church on our Wedding Day?

We are happy for you to put flowers in the Church for your wedding. You may do this on the evening before the wedding (often the best time for the rehearsal as well), or you may arrange for this to be done on your behalf either on the evening before the ceremony or on the morning of the wedding. The Beadle will open the Church to enable this to be done. It is expected that flowers put in Church are then left to be distributed to the elderly and sick in the parish following the next Sunday service.

Do I have to ask the Parish Minister to arrange my wedding?

The Church does not hire out its building for use for weddings by other people. If you are from outwith the parish, the Church will normally be happy to invite your own parish minister, priest or pastor to share in the service, should that be appropriate; but this invitation will always come from Luss Parish Church. (Sometimes, if it is thought to be appropriate, visiting Ministers are invited to deliver an address, read the Bible passages, and lead the prayers for the couple who are being married.)

Is it expected that we invite the Minister to the wedding reception?

Absolutely not. The Minister will not expect to be invited to your wedding reception.

And what about all the many other questions we've got about who should do what in Church, who should sit where, and so on?

Don't worry, all these things will be dealt with at the appropriate rehearsal. Most of all, enjoy the time between now and your wedding; enjoy the planning; enjoy the preparation and make time to think of your decision to celebrate your marriage in God's house – Luss Parish Church will also be your home. You will be welcome to come and join us Sunday by Sunday, and you may feel that coming to worship in Luss Parish Church before your wedding will help you feel more at home on your big day!

Congratulations on your engagement and good luck with all your plans! The next step is to complete our wedding application form below and to send it to us by email to info@lusschurch.com. You will quickly be informed if the date you request is available and will be invited to come to one of our services so that you can be sure that the style of worship we offer is appropriate for your special day.

We have a very beautiful Church and are happy to share it with the many folk for whom Luss is a special place. We look forward to meeting you!

Contact Details for Wedding Coordinator