Layer Marney Church Weddings

29th April 2025

We are lucky enough to have the luxury of being able to offer a church wedding ceremony at Layer Marney Tower, at the parish church of St Mary the Virgin which is situated within the grounds.

Although the church is located just a short walk away from the main buildings of Layer Marney Tower, they are completely independent of us. If you have come along for a wedding viewing and fallen in love with the idea of a church wedding, you may want to know what is the next step.

This blog will hopefully answer some of your initial questions about the possibility of a church wedding in the St Mary the Virgin church of Layer Marney.

By law, you can be married in any church where you have a qualifying connection, which is automatic for a number of reasons. It may be because you live in the parish or have previously lived in it for at least six months, if your parents live in the parish, if you were christened in the church or maybe your parents or grandparents were married there.

However, if you don’t have an automatic connection, you can still establish this by coming to church regularly before your wedding. This must be for a period of at least six months before the banns are due to be called, so effectively you need to start attending a minimum of eight to nine months before the wedding day.

Weddings can take place on any day of the week from Monday to Saturday; but weddings are not offered on a Sunday, bank holiday, Christmas Eve or in the week leading up to Easter.

The church can comfortably seat around 100 people in the pews, with the option of extending this number to accommodate more guests in the North Aisle.

There is a certain amount of choice you will have regarding the service. For instance, you can choose your entry and exit music, hymns and readings. At least one reading must be from the bible but you may choose other appropriate readings. There is an organist available but you may also hire your own live musicians.

All of the legal aspects of your wedding are handled by the church, so there is no need for a registrar.

To check whether a date is available or to ask any questions, please contact the Rev’d Ann-Marie Renshaw either by calling 01621 815260 or e-mailing amlrenshaw@btinternet.com

You may like to simply come along to a Sunday service at the church, which take place at 9am on every Sunday apart from any the occasions when there is a fifth Sunday in the month.

We also try to arrange for a church verger to be available to chat to you during any wedding events we are holding, whether this is a Wedding Show organised externally or whether it is one of the Wedding Open Days or Summer Open Evening that we put on in-house.

Take a look at this beautiful selection of photos, both from the interior and exterior of this pretty church, which we hope will give you plenty of ideas for your own church wedding.

by Karen Brand – Wedding Specialist