Mixed faith marriages

Having a different faith to your partner need not be a barrier to having a church wedding if you’d both like one. Just like all couples, the vicar will want to get to know you both and help you develop a ceremony that reflects your story.
Some confetti lying in the grass

When you get married in church, vows are exchanged in the presence of God and witnesses. The Church of England ceremony will be of course be a Christian one – the vows and the Christian nature of the ceremony cannot be changed. However, if you have met the basic legal requirements, couples from different faith backgrounds can be married in church.

And, with the advice of the vicar, there may be places where you can bring an element of other traditions, cultures and even different languages into your service, perhaps through readings and music.

All couples will be presented with challenges throughout their married life to remain loving and faithful for an entire lifetime. There will be good times for celebration and laughter and tough times when more patience, understanding and humour will be required than at others.

If you have fundamentally different spiritual beliefs, this may present an additional challenge in your relationship and the vicar may want to include that as part of preparing you for the vows you will make on your wedding day.

People of different faiths may also have different traditions which affect the whole family on both sides. Big occasions, such as religious festivals like Christmas, or anniversaries, birthdays and funerals can present particular tensions and also particular delight.

To help you think about some of the common challenges, and also the positives, of an inter-faith marriage, the Inter-faith Marriage Network has a helpful website.