Maps with directions to the church or the Four Church Farm are available. The directions to the church can be accessed by going to the church’s website: and selecting "Visit Us" and then copying the information in whatever fashion your computer program allows. {perhaps by highlighting the data and then printing?} Likewise, for website directions to the 4 Church Farm, go to "Organizations" and then to "4 Church Farm."

PARKING

The church parking lot is located on Locust Street west of the church (behind Central Intermediate School). The alley on the south side of the Parish Building is available for the bridal party or for the purpose of loading or unloading.

The pastor will want to meet with the bride and groom several times in the process of planning the wedding. Typically 3 meetings are held prior to the wedding.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

An organist from St. Paul's usually is the musician for a wedding held in the church. If the couple wishes a relative or friend to be organist, the church asks that that person be familiar with a pipe organ. In addition to the church’s pipe organ, other instruments may be used to provide wedding music, such as piano, flute, strings, etc.

If using an organist from the parish, the couple should contact that organist soon after initial contact is made with the pastor. The church understands the couple as making a direct "contract" with the organist to provide music for the wedding.

Please contact one of the following people directly to arrange for your wedding music:

Organists: 

Tim Utterback (primary organist of the parish) - 614-445-0608  (His fee is $175)

Ruth Watson (assistant organist) - 740-366-3119  (See honorarium below)

Kathy Jordan (assistant organist) - 740-763-4229  (See honorarium below)

Jan Rengert (assistant organist)  740-344-1206  (See honorarium below)

The current honorariums for the three assistant organists are:

Wedding in Chapel $50.00

Wedding in Church $100.00

The couple pay this honorarium directly to the organist and it is best to make sure that this is done at the rehearsal, if there is one. The fee includes the organist’s initial meeting with you to select the music, practice time, playing at the rehearsal, as well as playing for the wedding itself.

If a couple wishes to engage the services of a guest organist, he or she is asked to observe the Lutheran tradition of playing Christian sacred music at wedding services.

According to Church policy: "The music should be selected for its suitability to a service of praise and thanksgiving." In other words, Lutheran wedding traditions discourage the use of popular show tunes and love songs as wedding preludes, processionals, and vocal solos. (Quite frankly, most show tunes and popular love songs sound out-of-place when played on an organ. This type of music should be used during the reception, possibly as your bridal dance.) Music played on the organ before and during the wedding service should be conducive to creating a sense of reverence and joyfulness before God. If you have any questions please discuss them with the pastor.

VOCALISTS

If you wish to utilize a vocalist(s) or other special musicians, please coordinate arrangements with the organist and the pastor. You may use someone you already know or you may ask the pastor for possible soloists. Fees or gratuities should be negotiated directly with the person providing the special music.

READERS

MARRIAGE LICENSE

A valid marriage license must be presented to the pastor at the rehearsal!

This may be obtained at the courthouse in the county of which either the bride or the groom is a resident, and is usable in any county in Ohio. Application for the license must be made at least 5 days prior to the wedding and is valid for 60 days. The couple must go together to apply for the license and they should have proof of identity and legal age in the form of a driver's license or birth certificate. Persons whose previous marriage ended in a divorce or dissolution should bring legal proof of the termination of the previous marriage. In Licking County application for marriage licenses is made in the office of the Clerk of the Probate Court, which is located on the first floor of the Licking County Courthouse (this is the floor above the ground floor).

REHEARSAL

For a formal wedding involving a number of attendants and guests a rehearsal is advised. Usually the rehearsal is held on the evening preceding the wedding, starting sometime between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. It lasts about an hour. During this time we will go through the processional, an abbreviated form of the wedding ceremony, and the recessional. Chapel weddings usually do not require a rehearsal though one may be held if requested.

The following people should attend the wedding rehearsal: bride, groom, all the bride's and groom's attendants, ushers, flower girl, ring bearer, parents, soloist, reader(s), and anyone

else who has a role in the service. The minister(s) and organist will, of course, be present. The photographer and/or videographer is welcome to attend as well.

REHEARSAL DINNER

If you wish to hold your rehearsal dinner at the church, please schedule Danford Hall at the time you schedule your wedding. You will need to provide your own catering and will need to do your own set-up and clean-up. If it is necessary to bring a sexton in to clean up, you will be charged a fee accordingly.

BULLETINS

Bulletins (programs) list the order of the service and the members of the wedding party. These can be ordered through the church in quantities of fifty. A variety of designs are available, many of which are based on the wedding scripture passages. Fees are listed at the back of this booklet. To estimate the number of bulletins you will need, it often works to base it on the number of invitations you are sending.

You may also include an insert page in your bulletin. These are typically a half-sheet with additional information for your

wedding guests. This may be a map to the reception hall, a thank you to friends and family who made the day possible, a special poem, information about the bride and groom, etc.

FLOWERS

It is customary for the couple to purchase flowers for the altar. These should be live flowers. The typical altar arrangement is two bouquets which are placed in the brass vases on the wooden shelf behind the altar. Most florists have a gold-colored plastic vase which, when the bottom is removed, fits down inside the brass vase. If you wish to use your own container, the shelf is 9 inches deep and the arrangements should not be taller than the cross which rises 3 feet above the shelf. If communion will NOT be celebrated at the wedding, a large single bouquet may be placed directly on the altar.

The flowers placed at the altar may be given in memory of a loved one. An announcement similar to the following is usually placed in the wedding bulletin:

The altar flowers are given in memory of (name), mother of the groom, and in memory of (names), grandparents of the bride.

Any other flowers are optional. Flowers not placed near the altar (i.e., not inside the communion rail) may be of any type (live, silk, dried, etc.).

We do ask that NO flowers or decorations be attached to the brass candelabra which are on either side of the altar.

If you do not wish to take the flowers with you after the wedding ceremony, they will be left for the Sunday services, and it will be noted in the Sunday bulletin that the flowers are from your wedding. The flowers will then be taken to shut-in members or the hospitalized the following week. Or you may have a family member pick them up after the Sunday services. Please inform the pastor of your intention with the flowers.

CANDLES

Altar Candles: The altar candles and the candles for the brass candelabra will be provided by the church.

Aisle Candles: If you desire candles on the center aisle, the church can provide candle holders that fit on the ends of every other pew. The sexton will install these candle-holders prior to the service for a fee (see back of booklet). You will need to provide 22, dripless, 12 inch tapers in your choice of colors. For evening candlelight weddings, the overhead lights in the nave are dimmed to at least 80%, while the lights in the chancel (front area) are kept at 100% for pictures. The aisle candle holders can be decorated with bows, flowers, etc. for the wedding.

Unity Candle: If you wish to have a Unity Candle, you need to provide both the Unity Candle (larger center candle) and the two side tapers. The church will provide a large and very attractive brass Unity Candelabra, designed for this very purpose.

OTHER DECORATING CONCERNS

The liturgical furnishings in the church may not be moved or "decorated." This includes the baptismal font, the altar, pulpit, lectern, and altar railing. No large decorations may be placed in the chancel that in anyway block the view of the altar. For the wedding a double kneeler will be placed in front of the opening in the altar railing.

A fabric aisle runner is an optional thing provided by the wedding couple. Its purpose is to keep the bride’s train clean as she walks down the aisle. If there is no train, then the aisle runner may not be needed. If you choose to use an aisle runner, it can be ordered through a florist or bridal supply and should cover a length of 80 feet, but may be shorter. This should be placed at the BOTTOM of the chancel steps and attached to a metal holder that the church provides. Please do not use duct tape or other such tapes which have been known to remove the floor tiles!)

PHOTOGRAPHER

Bride’s Party: The Weisgerber lounge is available for use by the bride and her party to dress before the wedding. This room, which is located just off the lobby in the Parish Building, is equipped with a full length mirror and lavatory.

Groom’s Party: A dressing room is also available for the men. It is located in the church nursery at the far west end of the first floor of the Parish Building.

Security: Because of a theft that happened during the course of a recent wedding, we now offer to lock up in the church office purses and any valuables of the bride’s party or anyone else.

THROWING SEED, ETC.....

If you wish, bird seed may be thrown over the bride and groom as they exit the church at the end of the wedding. (Bird seed, like rice, is symbolic of new life and fertility. We ask that rice not be used since it is harmful to wild birds and is more difficult to clean up.) Other options for the departure of the newly married couple include: a balloon launch, "bubble blowing," bell ringing, and kazoo playing.

SEXTON

The duties of the sexton are setting up for the wedding, including aisle candles if desired, ringing of the wedding bell at the beginning and end of the ceremony, and clean-up afterwards. Fees vary with services needed and are listed at the end of this booklet.

RECEPTION

Record of the wedding will be placed in the official Parish Record Book of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

INVITATION TO WORSHIP

We invite you to consider St. Paul's Lutheran Church to be your church home as a family. Active involvement in church life can be a stabilizing factor in a marriage. Though the current statistics for the divorce rate are around 50% for non-church couples, it is under 20% for those actively involved in their church.

Those of us here at St. Paul's would like to give you the strength and support that faith and fellowship can provide to a relationship. You are welcome to join us for worship:

Each Saturday:

Bulletins [If bulletins are prepared in church office]

Secretarial honorarium:

This is totally at your discretion. Typically ranges from $40.00 to $100.00.