Weddings

Weddings at St Nicolas Taplow – Updated May 2021

Congratulations on your engagement.

St Nicolas is a beautiful large church in the picturesque village of Taplow, South Buckinghamshire.  We offer small intimate weddings or larger weddings with a maximum capacity of 300 seated guests and anything in between.  Every union is a unique, wonderful and personal event and we would love to help you to achieve your dream church wedding.

Please contact the Reverend Jane Cresswell with any questions:

Jane.stnicolas@gmail.com  or 01628 661182

When you get married at St Nicolas, Taplow, there are a number of wedding reception venues within the local area, including: Cliveden House Hotel (where the Duchess of Sussex spent the night before her wedding); Hedsor House; Burnham Beeches Hotel; Taplow House Hotel; The Grovefield Hotel and The Tudor Barn in Burnham to name but a few.  In recent years we have been blessed to host a number of celebrity weddings who chose St Nicolas, Taplow whilst using a local reception venue.

Facilities

St Nicolas, Taplow can seat 300 guests and pictures of the inside of the church can be seen on the Gallery page. The church building includes accessible toilet facilities.  There is parking available close by in the village car park.  The local village pub is situated close by and available to guests who arrive in Taplow well in advance of a wedding.  The village green provides an ideal backdrop for memorable wedding photographs.

Wedding Packages – From January, 2022

The basic fee for your wedding at St Nicolas during 2022, from January is £702.00.  This fee covers:- Reading of the Banns at St Nicolas; Preparing Document to Register the Wedding; the Wedding Service; the services of the Church Director of Music & Organist; and Vergers to assist at the service.

Your Marriage Certificate will be issued by The Register Office for a fee, currently £11.00, which is payable to The Register Office.

St Nicolas Church has a dedicated group of ladies who will be delighted to advise you on flowers and other decorations that you might like to use in the church.  We can also provide liaison with your chosen florist, for a more elaborate approach. 

From September to May we charge an additional £75.00 to cover the cost of heating the Church (this portion of the fees is refundable if the heating is not needed).

You can choose to include the Church Choir in your wedding service, as an optional extra, this incurs an additional fee of £150.00.

At the time of booking your wedding we ask for an initial deposit of £40.00 due to the popularity of St Nicolas as a wedding venue.  You pay the balance of your fees six weeks before your wedding.

If you do not live in the Parish of Taplow you also need to make arrangements for your Banns to be read at your local Church on the same date.   Your local Church will make a charge for this and provide a Certificate to confirm Banns have been read.  This Certificate will need to be given to the Vicar who is taking your Marriage Service.

Each year the Church of England reviews the fees payable, the fee revision is usually published around November and the increase is typically £10 to £20.

The fabric of St Nicolas Church is very expensive to maintain, with on-going operating and maintenance costs running at approximately £1,800.00 per week.  Couples marrying at St Nicolas are invited to make a voluntary donation to the church to help meet these expenses.  Any donation, of any value, would be very gratefully received, and if you indicate that you are a UK tax-payer then the donation can be even more valuable thanks to “Gift-Aid”.

Wedding Timings

We are able to accommodate up to two weddings on one day, allowing plenty of time for the first set of guests to leave Taplow village before the second set start arriving

Do we need to live in the parish of St Nicolas Taplow to get married there?

If you would like to get married at St Nicolas Taplow, there are some legal conditions which have to be met, but we will do our best to accommodate you.

If you live in the parish of St Nicolas, Taplow your first step is to contact the Reverend Jane Cresswell on 01628 661182 or jane.stnicolas@gmail.com for availability.  When you meet with her you will also be asked to complete a banns of marriage form.

If either of you do not hold, or are not eligible to hold, a UK passport you can’t be married under the Church of England “Banns of Marriage” but given a period of notice special arrangements can usually be made.

If you don’t live in the parish but can meet one of the following criteria, you could still be married at St Nicolas, Taplow:

1. You were baptised (Christened) in Taplow parish by a Church of England form of baptism
2. You were confirmed by a Church of England service and the confirmation is entered in a register belonging to this church.
3. A parent or grandparent was married in Taplow parish by a Church of England service.
4. You have had your usual place of residence in Taplow parish for at least six months. Applies whether or not you are still resident in the parish. (If you need a map have a look elsewhere on this site).
5. A parent has had their usual place of residence in Taplow parish for at least six months during your lifetime. Applies whether or not they are still resident in the parish.
6. You have habitually attended public worship at Church of England services in Taplow parish for at least six months (this means six months before your wedding so if there is enough time you can do this after booking your wedding).  This applies whether or not you are still attending worship in the parish.
7. A parent has habitually attended public worship at Church of England services in Taplow parish for at least six months during your lifetime. Applies whether or not they are still attending.

Weddings in another Church

If you live in the parish of St Nicolas Taplow and are planning to get married in another church you will also need to fill in a banns form, and send a copy of it to the minister of the church in which you wish to get married.  At St Nicolas we read the banns in Church at the 10:45am Sunday Service.  Contact Jane to make an appointment to complete a banns form.

Do I live in Taplow or another Parish?

To check your local parish church visit: www.achurchnearyou.com and enter your residential postcode. If you have more than one address your banns of marriage will need to be read in each relevant parish, in addition to the church in which the wedding service is to take place.  

 What if one or both of us are divorced?

Whilst we affirm marriage as a lifelong commitment, we recognise that some marriages do fail for all sorts of sad and painful reasons.  Each couple’s circumstances will be different, but please contact the Reverend Jane Cresswell on 01628 661182 and she will be pleased to talk through with you the possibility of remarriage in church.

Marriage Preparation

Your wedding is an exciting and important day, but it is only the first day of your married lives.  As part of your preparation for marriage at St Nicolas, we invite you to attend our marriage preparation course.  This is an informal gathering with the opportunity to meet other wedding couples.

The Wedding Service

 It is good to think about planning your service before other things take over.  You will need to choose music, hymns and readings.  You will also need to consider what flowers you would like in church.

 There are many helpful websites that enable you to think more about what to consider when planning you wedding. You may find the following helpful.

 www.yourchurchwedding.org