The Danish Lutheran Church of Vancouver, B.C.

Wedding at the Danish Lutheran Church of Vancouver

In a wedding you ask God to bless you and your relationship. You ask God to help you make your marriage a happy one. You make mighty promises and ask God to help you keep them. To be married by our pastor, at least one of you must be a baptised Christian.

If you have a Baptismal Certificate, please bring it when you visit our pastor to talk about your wedding. If neither of you are baptised, we can of course arrange a baptism.

Because of its old world charm, our church is a popular wedding chapel. You do not need to be a Dane or have family ties to our church; however, if our pastor or our building is busy, we hope that you will understand that we give priority to those who have some connection to our church or to Scandinavia.

Paperwork you can attend to now

To be married, you need a Marriage Licence. The Licence certifies that you can be legally married to each other. The web site of the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency explains where you can obtain your Licence. Please complete your Licence with the information about your parents as well as the full name of the two witnesses. Then give your Licence to our pastor well in advance of your wedding. After the ceremony, our pastor will send the completed Marriage Licence to Vital Statistics. They then register your marriage and send you a British Columbia Marriage Certificate.

Meeting the Pastor

Before the wedding, our pastor will meet with you at least once. You will discuss the practical details surrounding your wedding. You will walk through the wedding ritual so you know when to do or say what. You will choose a date; most weddings are on Saturdays, and almost all are in English. You will choose the hymns, the processional, and recessional. You may arrange a rehearsal. You will also discuss the significance of being married in a church.

Book your wedding date now!

Your wedding is an incredibly cherishing experience! Our church can provide you with all the things you need to make your wedding day one to remember.

Contact us to book your wedding date.

Practical arrangements

You or your family may want to decorate the church before the service. You are expected to provide flowers for the two vases on the altar. The vases are about 8 inches tall and have an inside diameter of a little more than 2 inches.

The holders in our 28 pews can be adapted for candles or flowers; we provide the candles. Candles are very beautiful but they also give heat; for a summer wedding you should consider using more flowers, say candles in the front pews only.

The Wedding Ceremony

Arrive early for the wedding. The Groom, the Best Man, and the Groom’s Men should be seated in the Sanctuary 20 minutes before the service is to begin.

The Bride, the Maid of Honour, and the Bridesmaids in principle arrive in the nick of time, but you may ‘hide’ downstairs. 

Please turn off all cell phones before entering the church. If your guests are not regulars in our church, please give them instructions on how to get here: 6010 Kincaid Street, off Norland Avenue in Burnaby.

Photography

Please discuss with our pastor when pictures can be taken. Please remind your photographers that they, too, are attending a church service. Photographers are asked to not ascend the two steps to the Altar, and we will not repeat any part of the service for the sake of a better picture.

After the service, you and your photographers may re-enter the Sanctuary and take as many pictures in whatever way you like. Remember to charge your cameras.

Paperwork that will follow

We will issue a Marriage Certificate for you, and you will receive a British Columbia Marriage Certificate from Vital Statistics in the mail. The British Columbia Marriage Certificate is the official document that certifies that you are indeed legally married. The certificate we issue certifies that you were married before God.

Your donation

We expect a donation of $500 (or more…) to cover the pastor’s time, the organist, decoration of the church, and clean-up after the service. Please give your donation to our pastor before the wedding, for example at the rehearsal. Thank you!