Weddings
Welcome and thank you for coming to the Weddings section of
our website. You will find a fairly extensive treatment of our wedding service
here. If there is anything further you need to know please contact our
Wedding Coordinator
- Booking a Wedding
Weddings can be booked in our sanctuary on:
- Saturday at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm;
- Friday at 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm; and
- Sunday typically at 1:30pm and 3:30pm
Each wedding is given a total of two hours - designed for
decorating the church, having the wedding ceremony, taking photographs and
refreshing the church for the next event. This means that a couple with a
wedding at 1:00 pm will have the church from 12:00 pm to 2:00
pm for set-up, ceremony and strike down. The wedding ceremony itself takes
between 25 to 35 minutes. It is a snug fit, but we are unable to offer longer
times.
Weddings will not be performed at our church on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve,
Good Friday, Easter Sunday and occasionally other dates.
If for some reason the Reverend Sanguin or our organist is
unavailable we will assume responsibility for securing the services of another
minister or organist. There is a set fee for the wedding and should you wish to
provide special music of your own you would make payment arrangements, if they
apply, with those musicians directly and in addition to our fee.
The cost of a weekday or Saturday wedding is $1,350. This fee includes payment
for the minister, organist, custodian, wedding director and the use of the
church. The cost for a wedding on a Sunday or statutory holiday is $1,950.
(Additional charges apply if there is a request for one of our soloists or our
choir to sing. Sessions needed with the minister of music for your own imported
musicians will also incur a nominal fee of $35 extra.)
NB: Rates for weddings are subject to periodic adjustment.
The first step is to view the facilities which is possible a) by attending any
Sunday service (10:30 a.m.) when you will be able to see the church in daylight
and hear the organ being played. b) You may also arrange with the
Wedding Coordinator to view the
church at regular bi-weekly site tours available every other Tuesday evening at
6 pm by appointment.
Weddings can be booked by submitting a completed booking form and a
non-refundable deposit to hold confirmed dates and times for both rehearsal and
wedding:
$350 for a Friday or Saturday wedding; and
$450 for a wedding on a Sunday or Statutory holiday.
Please make cheques payable to Canadian Memorial Church. Tentative bookings are
not acceptable.
The marriage license and the balance are due in the Church
Office two months before the wedding date to facilitate
administration.
Please scroll down for more about the Marriage License and
Balance Due.
| You are welcome to
contact our
Wedding Coordinator
for assistance on any aspect of weddings at Canadian Memorial if you have not
found what you need on this website.
(NB:
The Facilities
Calendar is a fine reference for church availability however it may not
always be 100% up to date. Please confirm your dates with the Wedding
Coordinator.) |
Marion
Allaart
Wedding Coordinator |
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Our church requires that couples being married here take a
pre-marriage workshop.
We can recommend the following two options:
- The first is called, "The Two Shall Become One".
This course is run by our minister, Bruce Sanguin, and his wife, Dr. Ann
Evans, at Canadian Memorial Centre for Peace on selected weekends through
the year. Contact
the wedding coordinator for information on registration for this
course. The cost is $200 per couple for the group sessions with Bruce
and Ann, or $500 for 5 hours of private sessions with Ann. See
the brochure for more information, "The Two Shall Become One".
A brochure is also available at the church office.
- The second option is "The Marriage Project" in
Burnaby which offers ongoing courses. Call (604) 433-6416, e-mail
info@themarriageproject.com
or visit www.themarriageproject.com for information on registration for
this course. The current cost is $210 per couple (GST exempt). A
brochure is available from the church
office.
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Our church organist/pianist is available to provide the music
at your wedding. A wedding sampler on CD has been created by Music Minister,
Neil Weisensel, for your listening pleasure over time. You can take one home
with you from the Site Tour in exchange for a $10 fee that is refundable upon
return. You will also receive a Music Planner. Should you require assistance
for special requests you can contact the Music Minister directly. From time to
time there may be a Music and Wedding Details Seminar available for you to take
part in. Typically these occur only once or twice a wedding season. Our
chancel Choir is also available to perform at weddings. A minimum of six weeks
notice is required and the fee is $600. The
Music
Minister’s office number is (604) 731-6819.
On your invitations be sure to print the Church address
as:
Canadian Memorial Church
West 15th Avenue & Burrard Street, Vancouver,
BC
You can apply for your marriage license and registration by
completing a Marriage License Application through the Vital Statistics website
at www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage.
Application can be made within 90 days of your wedding date. Submit it with
required ID and fee to Vital Statistics at their Provincial Government office at
#250 - 605 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC or another Marriage License Issuer
listed at the same website as well.Fill in the first
half of your wedding license when you receive it however do not sign the form
now. You and your witnesses will sign during the marriage ceremony.
Please take care to enter each of your care card numbers in
the spaces marked PHN on the form (Public Health Number) and that the following
information requested on both sets of parents is also completed before
submitting your license.
The bride and groom are required to enter the full name of
each of their fathers and the full maiden names of each of their mothers
on the form. The city and country of birth of each parent is also required for
the marriage license.
As we need the form to complete the church register for
preparation of your ceremony, please bring the license and the balance of
your fees to the church office two months prior to your wedding.
Immediately after your wedding, your marriage license will be
mailed to the Department of Vital Statistics where your marriage will be
registered in government records.
NB: Also, if your payment for the balance due is made by
cheque please write your last names and the date and time of the wedding in the
memo line for easy reference.
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Legal barriers to granting a marriage license to
same sex couples are now removed. Gay or Lesbian couples are
welcome to have their wedding at Canadian Memorial. The
Minister will discuss alternatives to the conventional Marriage Counseling if
that is more appropriate in your circumstances.
Rehearsals at Canadian Memorial are a vital
component of the wedding process and typically occur on the Thursday evening
before your wedding. They comfortably take about three quarters of an hour. It
is an opportunity to finalize wedding plans and run through the flow of the
wedding. Families, members of the wedding party, as well as the wedding couple
themselves, get certainty about the wedding ceremony and how it will go.
The church has two candelabras which couples like to use at
the ceremony. It is up to the wedding clients to provide the candles for these.
They each hold seven candles for a total of fourteen preferable no-drip
candles. NB: White candles photograph better than dark-coloured candles.
If you wish to perform the unity candle ceremony you will need
four additional candles plus a centre pillar candle. You may also use candles to
represent family members who cannot be at your wedding either because they are
absent or deceased and then you would add that number to the total. Please
refer to the diagram in the packet to clarify.
Bring your candles and holders, boxed, labeled with your
names, wedding date and time, and give them to the Wedding Coordinator at your
rehearsal time. She will set everything up and light the candelabra before your
guests arrive at the wedding ceremony.
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We recommend that you send your ceremony to the minister one
month prior to the wedding date. The standard United Church wedding service is
posted on the web under
Wedding
Resources. Here you are invited to choose portions of that service by
cutting and pasting your chosen section into a Word document and in this way
gradually building your ceremony.When you are finished,
email the file as an attachment to Reverend Sanguin at
bsanguin@telus.net with your names and
wedding date and time. Be sure to insert the names into the formal ceremony that
you want him to use during the service and particularly the names you wish to be
called at the end of the service when you are being presented as a married
couple.
Bruce will respond with any comments or suggestions. Once the
draft order of service is approved, he will return it to you - copying it to
the coordinator to have ready for the wedding. It's a good idea to bring your
own copy of the approved service to the rehearsal.
Our minister, Bruce Sanguin is available for guidance should
you wish to make innovations in your service and will work with you to determine
whether we are able to accommodate them.
Some couples wish to have a printed Order of Service
for guests to read. We do not provide these but the following is an outline of
a typical Order of Service if you wish to print your own:
Lighting of Family Candles
Procession
Welcome and Statement of Purpose
Opening Prayer
Scripture and Poetry Readings
Minister's Address to the Guests
Minister's address to the Couple
Statement of Intent
Affirmation of Support
Prayer before the Vows
Exchange of Vows
Exchange of Rings
Blessing
Holy Kiss
Lighting of the Wedding Candle
Presentation of Married Couple
Signing of the Register & Documents
Recessional
(Program covers for wedding ceremonies can be purchased at
religious bookstores such as Marian Distributing Centre, Dogwood Books or
Pilgrim Books.)
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There are three parking places in front of the church on West
15th Avenue that we reserve for the bridal party (we request that residents and
public keep those spaces open for wedding vehicles, but compliance is
voluntary). Limited parking is available for guests in our parking lot
accessed by West 16th Avenue. The west entrance of the church is wheelchair
accessible (accessed either from West 15th Avenue or the laneway).
 The church has two pedestals 26" high and
one pedestal 41" high on which to place flower
arrangements. Flowers for an 11:00 a.m. wedding can be delivered to the
church’s front doors an hour before the ceremony. Couples scheduled
after 11:00 a.m. should discuss their flower delivery with our Custodian on
their rehearsal date. Any flowers or decorations which you bring must be
removed immediately after the ceremony.
We have 20 white tulle bows which you may use if you wish, or
you may bring your own. (Please use masking tape when affixing
decorations to the pews.) The length of the centre
aisle is 72 feet, from the inner door to the base of the chancel steps.Top
Church Decorations
There are some days when your wedding will have
to accommodate decorations already in place in the church. The
church sanctuary is decorated with appropriate floral and greenery
arrangements on the Saturday before Easter, Thanksgiving and
Remembrance Day. For Advent and Christmas, artificial and
real evergreen boughs and poinsettias enhance the chancel. A
decorated tree is placed at the front of the church about two
weeks before Christmas. This is removed before New Year's
Day. Queries may be directed to the office who can put you
in touch with the Liturgical Arts Committee, who will be happy to
discuss this in more detail.
We ask that you inform your guests not to throw confetti, rice
or birdseed in or near the church.
We co-operate fully with your photographer, giving ample
opportunity for good pictures. Please ask your photographer to speak to
the minister before the ceremony. During the ceremony, only non-flash may
be used. Videos are allowed with discretion. The church cannot be
used as a studio for pre- or post-wedding photography, however we will try to
accommodate a short photo session for inclement weather.
We do have a hall in our Centre on 16th Avenue which is
suitable for small receptions, rehearsal dinners or for a gathering while
wedding photos are being taken elsewhere. We do not allow alcohol to be
served or consumed on our premises. We can give you further information on
request (see Facilities page).
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