Weddings

Congratulations on your engagement!

We are pleased you are considering marriage in a Christian setting at St Michael’s Cathedral, in the heart of Wollongong. We look forward to helping you plan your wedding. We will do our best to make your wedding day a great occasion that honours God and brings joy to you and your families and friends. We run Information Sessions for couples preparing to be married at St Michael’s several times a year.

The Information Session addresses almost all the questions people have.

To find out when the next Information Session is scheduled, please call our office on (02) 4228 9132, or you can also contact weddings@wollongonganglican.org.

However, the following advice should answer most initial questions…

Preparing for Marriage

We want to prepare you for a great marriage, not just a great wedding day!

In light of this, as you meet with your Minister to plan the big day, we require all wedding couples to take part in a pre-marriage preparation course with him (typically ‘Prepare’). This will address common marriage issues through input and discussion. It is a great opportunity to strengthen your relationship for a lifetime.

Choosing to be married at St Michael’s indicates you’re interested in God’s blessing on your marriage. To know God’s blessing implies the need to know God himself. Thus, during the preparation course, the Minister will also discuss the meaning of marriage with you, and what God says about it in the Bible.

For proper preparation, we expect you will meet with a Minister on several occasions (typically 2-3). It is a condition of being married at St Michael’s that you both attend all these sessions. We will send you some options for organising this preparation with your minister approximately six months before your wedding.

Preparing for the Wedding

You will be able to select from two orders of service for marriage in an Anglican Church. You can also choose Bible readings and appropriate music for various parts of the service. These meetings are a good time to discuss your choices and address any further questions you have.

You will also complete the ‘Notice of Intended Marriage’ for the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. This will require you to bring your full birth certificates or certified extracts (not photocopies). You can obtain a certified birth certificate online or by visiting a NSW Government Service Centre. Please note that this can take several weeks.

In the week before your wedding, you will meet with the Minister again for a brief wedding rehearsal and to complete official paperwork.

Wedding Fees

The total cost of a wedding at St Michael’s is $1000 (prices change year to year, so please contact us for updated payments).

Your initial booking can be held until after you have attended a wedding information session. However, completion of a booking form and payment of a $400 deposit will confirm your booking. The $400 deposit is non-refundable.

St Michael’s Cathedral was designed by Edmund Blackett and built in 1858-59. It has a special place in Wollongong and is heritage listed. Many of the Cathedral’s features make it attractive for church services, but it’s expensive to maintain. So, your deposit is paid into a National Trust fund to keep the Cathedral in good order. (Once you have paid in full, a National Trust receipt enables you to claim your deposit as a tax-deductible donation.)

The cost includes: costs associated with the marriage preparation course, provision of flowers, an organist, and Cathedral staff, who help your wedding to run smoothly.

All wedding fees must be paid prior to your wedding. Cheques should be made payable to “St Michael’s Cathedral”. You can also pay electronically:

  • A/c Name: St Michaels Anglican Cathedral Wollongong (or as much as will fit)
  • BSB: 032 694
  • A/c No: 266 482
  • Description: “Wedding – surname-surname”

Please also email our office to indicate you’ve made the payment. For our records, please include the date of your wedding, your names, the amount and date paid.

Please do not pay until you have confirmed availability. 

Availability

St Michael’s is a church family with multiple congregations and a great variety of activities.

As a result, the number of Saturdays available for weddings is limited. However, multiple bookings are welcome on the same day, provided they are at least 90 minutes apart.

Please note that when one (or both) of the intending parties has been divorced, we cannot officiate unless we have a prior pastoral relationship with you. Without such a relationship we cannot fulfil our Biblical and denominational requirements.

Music

Not all music is appropriate for a Christian wedding. While we try to be flexible, if you would like music other than classical wedding music, you’ll need to check with the minister whether it is an appropriate selection. More information is available at an Information Session.

If you are going to have special music or a soloist at your wedding, you’ll need to make arrangements with our Minister or organist.

Recording your Wedding

Photographs may be taken as you enter and leave the church, and after the marriage register has been signed. However, we instruct the congregation not to take photos during the service itself. We want to minimise distractions at this special occasion. Of course, the official photographer may continue his or her work throughout the service. The same applies for any official video operator.

Decorations

Feel free to use confetti, petals or bubbles, in the grounds, but please do not use them in the church building. Rice is not suitable due to the problems it can cause local birds.

Our flower team provides a regularly changing mix of fresh and silk flowers in the Cathedral. Because of multiple weddings and seasonal variations, we cannot take special requests regarding colours. Pew end decorations may be placed in the Cathedral only in the hour prior to your wedding.

Make a Booking

To make a booking, please email our wedding coordinator Morwenna at weddings@wollongonganglican.org and check the date and time you want is available. You must then attend an Information Session and pay your deposit to confirm your booking. 

 

With every good wish for your future together.