Non-Member Weddings in our Sanctuary

Congratulations on your engagement to be married!  May you seek God's guidance and wisdom as you anticipate spending the rest of your lives together within the covenant of marriage.

** Following are guidelines for those who are not members of our congregation, but who would like to rent our building for their wedding service.  This assumes that the wedding couple will provide their own pastor and music personnel.

What we provide:

• A Wedding Coordinator who will be present during the rehearsal (church will be open up to 1 1/2 hours), as well as throughout the day of the wedding, from three hours before the wedding through clean-up following the wedding.  If more time is needed before the wedding or for the rehearsal, and additional fee of $10 per hour will be required.

• Use of the sanctuary for the rehearsal and the wedding service, which includes the pipe organ, the grand piano, candelabras, aisle candles, and a variety of microphones (one each at the pulpit and lectern, in addition to wireless, clip-on, and on a stand, as needed).  Depending on the time of year, the sanctuary will be heated or cooled accordingly.

• Use of the library and nearby restroom as a dressing room for the bride and her attendants.  Use of the Scout Room with restroom for the groom and his groomsmen.  Use of the "Friendship Room" where food and drink may be served and where the wedding party may spend time prior to the wedding.  (We ask that food and drink remain in the Friendship Room.)

What we ask for in return:

• No food or drink in the sanctuary.  No smoking or intake of alcohol on church grounds (That includes the front lawn and sidewalks).  Rice or birdseed is not to be thrown outside of the building because it is hazardous to pedestrians and difficult to clean up.  All of the rooms used by the wedding party need to be cleaned up before everyone leaves the building after the wedding.

Fees include $150 to the Wedding Coordinator and $800 to the church, both of which need to be paid in full one month before the wedding.  A down payment of $200 made out to the church will reserve the church for your wedding date.

If you would like to walk through the sanctuary and other rooms, and see the aisle candles or anything else pertaining to the use of our building, you may schedule a time to meet with our secretary or our wedding coordinator.  You may call or e-mail the office to arrange this.  If you desire to provide an aisle runner, it needs to be at least 75 feet long.  The church does not provide a runner.  Seating capacity in our sanctuary is approximately 300.  There is plenty of free parking in the Parking Ramp across the street.

* * * * * * * * *

Our Pastor and/or Music Director may be available to officiate at your wedding.  If so:

• Sessions with the pastor:  Our pastor, the Reverend Wayne Walther, needs an initial meeting with the bride and groom in order to review the expectations, guidelines, and to answer questions or concerns you may have.  If, after that meeting, all are prepared to enter into an agreement to go forth with the wedding in this church, the pastor will give the couple an inventory, or survey, to complete.  The couple will then return for two or three sessions, which will cover aspects of your relationship and planning the wedding service.

• Music:  The wedding service is a worship service, therefore the music must be appropriate for Christian worship.  All music must be approved of by the pastor and/or the music director.  No taped music is allowed.

• Pictures:  Photography and videotaping at the wedding should not be distracting or disrupting.  Video cameras may be operated only from the balcony or the back of the sanctuary.  Pictures, flash or otherwise, are not allowed during the service (after the processional or before the recessional). 

• Rehearsal:  Rehearsals are typically the afternoon or evening before the wedding, although if the wedding party is small, a rehearsal may not be necessary.

Fees for using our Church, Pastor, Music Director, and Wedding Coordinator for 2008:

• Fees for the church building:            $800 (Same as above)

• Wedding Coordinator fee:                $150 (Same as above)

• Pastor's fee:                                          $250

• Music Director:                                   $250

• Deposit:                                                $200 - this will hold your date on the calendar

• All fees should be paid in full one month before the wedding

Our phone number is 651-388-3262 and the Office is open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday - Friday.

** If you would like to hold your Reception in our church, please call for availability and fees for individual rooms.

*** Members of our church, please call for fees.