A HARTFORD church is offering three lucky couples the chance to get married for just £1,000.

The Grand Wedding is an initiative by St John’s Church to encourage couples to tie the knot and start married unburdened by the huge expenses that can stack up while planning nuptials.

Thanks to a team of talented volunteers the church is offering to arrange the full day for a mere fraction of the average national cost.

The Rev Mike Smith, who has been marrying couples at the Chester Road church since 2004, explained: “According to national reports, the average cost of a wedding in the UK is £30,000. It can be an enormous burden for people starting out in their married life.

“I have known people struggle with the stress of getting into debt because of these costs, but I’ve also known the costs to put people off getting married.

“At St John’s, we believe that lifelong marriage between a man and a woman is God’s good gift to all, and that no-one should be denied simply because of cost. In our Grand Wedding, you have to provide your own clothes, but we’ll do the rest and give you a great day.”

A church wedding is a legal as well as a Christian ceremony and in order to fulfil the legal requirements people usually must be married by banns. It currently costs £854 for the full ‘bells and whistles’ experience of getting married at St John’s Church, which covers the expense of reading of the banns, the certificate, the vicar, organist, and bell ringers, plus the use of the church itself.

St John’s Grand Wedding offer is centred on a full church wedding and includes a two-tier personalised wedding cake, digital photographs, invitation and service stationery, flowers, and a dress alteration service if the bride purchases a second hand or off-the-peg dress.

The package also includes a catered reception in the Church Centre for up to 30 guests including a two-course meal with an option to add a further 20 guests at pro-rata cost.

The church has set three dates for 2019 which will be offered on a first come first served basis and are subject to the usual legal requirements for getting married in church. One of the services will be conducted by the Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Keith Sinclair.

The Rev Smith is hopeful the initiative will be a success and is keen to encourage couples to get in touch if the cost of getting wed in a church is a cause of concern.

He said: “While I would like wedding services to be like baptism, which is free, the costs of a church wedding are a legal requirement. However, I would say that if having a church wedding is truly important to you and your faith, but the cost is putting you off getting married, come and talk to me.”