Churches encouraged to give wedding guests a day to remember too

New resources have been developed by the Church of England to help churches make wedding days a special occasion for the guests too.

The resources have been developed by the Archbishops’ Council’s Weddings Project and draws on the feedback of more than 700 vicars.

A special card is being send out to churches to hand out to the some 135,000 guests expected to attend wedding services scheduled for this summer. The card is intended to help guests make their own promise to support the couple and act as a reminder in the years henceforth of the promise they made.

The card contains a prayer and website address that can help guests find a church near to where they live.

The resources include an online guide for vicars, Seven Heavenly Ways to Welcome, which from tips submitted by Church of England priests.

The guidelines to vicars include introducing themselves with a smile and encouraging everyone to make themselves feel at home, including inviting children to come forward or stand on a pew to get a better view.

It also suggests having a “paparazzi moment” to help everyone get a good angle for photos or video, “even if you have to restage the big moment at the end of the service,” it says.

The guidelines end with the suggestion to give every guest the promise card.

The prayer on the card reads: “Dear God, pour out the abundance of your blessing on them. Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts and a crown upon their heads.

“Bless them in their work and in their companionship; awake and asleep, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death. Amen.”

The promise cards will be piloted at weddings across England this summer before being launched across all Church of England churches in 2011.