Wedding Information

This is a time when you gather with your family a friends to publicly celebrate the love you share, the commitment you have to share the future, and attend to the legal requirements for your marriage to be registered.
Each of our churches provide a beautiful setting and environment for weddings. The prayerful intimacy of these sanctuary, with  pipe organ and stained glass windows makes them a popular venue for many couples.
Celebrating your marriage in the Church means that both of you invite your parents, families, and friends to gather to witness your marriage vows (below) in the context of a service of Christian worship.
I (name), in the presence of God,
take you (name), to be my wife/husband,
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 to cherish,
as long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.

Making Arrangements For A Wedding at Bendigo Central & Axedale Uniting Church

To discuss having a marriage service at St Andrew’s, please contact Belinda in our Church Office by phone 54413100 or by email standrewsbgo.axe@gmail.com to check whether the date and time you want are available both with the Church and our Minister, and to obtain other contact information that you will need.
A Church Officer will them make contact with you to discuss arrangements, make a time for you to see through the Church and confirm the fee structure for Weddings at St Andrew’s Bendigo.
The Minister, Rev Di Esbensen, will then make an appointment for you both to meet with her. The date and time requested for the marriage service remain provisional until the Minister has met with you and you have paid a deposit of $250.

Meeting with the Minister

The Minister will probably want to meet with you four times, not counting the day of the marriage service itself.
First meeting: take down details, discuss options, address any initial questions, and sign the Notice of Intention if your documents are ready. When you sign the Federal Government’s ‘Notice of Intention’ between eighteen months and one month before the proposed day, the Minister will need to see:
  • a full Australian Birth Certificate (not an Extract) if you were born in Australia.
  • If you were born overseas and have become an Australian citizen, your birth certificate from that country.
  • If you were born overseas and are still a citizen of the country where you were born, your passport is sufficient evidence.
  • If you have been married before, a copy of the Decree of the Divorce or Dissolution of the Marriage; or the Death Certificate (as appropriate).
  • and your drivers license.
Second meeting will look at planning the marriage service.
Third meeting will focus more on your hopes for your marriage. St Andrew’s does not offer a full program of marriage guidance counselling. However, the Minister will want to discuss with you your sense of understanding of marriage and how this commitment may enrich and challenge you, how you plan to address any relationship and live challenges that arise, some of the dynamics of your family of origin, and other areas and issues that you may like to explore before your Wedding Day.
Fourth meeting. A rehearsal in the Church, involving all people with tasks if possible, in the last few days before the marriage service.

Music

St Andrew’s has a long tradition of beautiful and inspiring music for its services. We have an outstanding Pipe Organ and our Organist, David Castles, is an accomplished musician and accompanist and is open to  accommodating most music requests appropriate for a Pipe Organ.
The music chosen for a the marriage service should reflect both the joy of the occasion, its Christian meaning, and the venue in which it takes place. The Minister and the Organist will be happy to discuss your preferences for music and songs for your Wedding. We can make available a suggested list of suitable music, but are open to other suggestions that fit with the occasion and meaning of the marriage service.
When selecting music for your marriage service, please bear in mind  copyright laws.