Planning a Wedding
at Cicero Christian Church

view / print Wedding Policy Booklet

view / print Wedding Application

Dear Bride and Groom-to-be,

We are happy that you are considering our church as the setting to take your vows of marriage before God. We believe that this important step in your lives must include Him to make it complete.

You are beginning the great adventure of marriage and establishing a new Christian home. One of the basic factors for strength in your marriage is your participation in the church of Christ. If you live in this area, we urge you to become part of our church so that together, from the beginning, you can find the added strength of worship and inspiration we all need. This is a decision you should make and fulfill before your wedding.

May the joy of our Lord be with you through these days of preparation, and may the home you establish be one in which the glory of Christ will be reflected to friends and family alike.

How Cicero Christian Church Can Serve You

Since a Christian marriage is a sacred event, reverence is expected by all who take part. The church wedding ceremony should be planned remembering it is to take place in a house of worship and in the presence of God.

A number of support personnel are required in order to provide the services needed for a special occasion in the Cicero Christian Church facility. This includes a minister, pianist, organist and/or keyboardist (as needed), other musicians, sound and lighting technicians, and a custodian. A Schedule of Fees is provided with this policy for persons wishing to use the CCC facility and its services.

Facilities

1. The church facilities are available for weddings to church members, their immediate families, and non members according to the Schedule of Fees.
2. A custodial fee for additional custodial services will be required as set forth in the Schedule of Fees.
3. The anticipated date and arrangements must be cleared with the Senior Minister. He or the wedding hostess shall direct the church office to contact the appropriate support services; i.e., music, sound, custodial, etc.
4. Those using church facilities must accept full responsibility for any damage to the facility, equipment, or grounds incurred during that use. Access for the wedding party should be arranged with the staff minister in charge or the wedding hostess in coordination with the church office.
5. It is the responsibility of the wedding party to see that all furnishings moved for any reason due to the wedding whether in the sanctuary, fellowship hall, or other facilities are returned to their original order following the wedding.
6. Use of our wedding hostess is required except for private ceremonies. She can make the necessary arrangements for the church facilities and act as a problem solver. A wedding hostess is a facilitator to ensure that all flows smoothly.

Ministers

• It is mandatory that a staff minister participate in all weddings conducted in the church.
• Ministers other than the current ministerial staff of the church may also participate in weddings; however, such arrangements must be approved by the Senior Minister prior to contact with another minister.
• Ministers in the church may perform wedding ceremonies only for those having the scriptural right to marry.
• The staff minister in charge will interpret any parts of these guidelines and will determine procedure for any item that may come up not included herein.
• Pre-martial counseling is required to be conducted by the staff minister conducting the wedding. The timing and number of sessions shall be determined by the staff minister in charge of the wedding. There shall be no pre-martial counseling fee. The suggested minister fee for the marriage covers the pre-martial counseling.

The first step in your contact with the church for your wedding is to call the church office at 317-984-4653 to arrange an appointment with the minister you have chosen to officiate.

You must fill out an application that must be returned to the office no later than one week prior to the appointment. This will confirm your appointment. You will not want to announce the wedding date until after your conference with the minister.

The following needs to be accomplished with the minister’s assistance:

1. A consideration of the meaning of Christian marriage
2. Schedule the necessary premarital counseling
3. Reservation of facilities on the church calendar.
   

Since functions involving the entire congregation have to take priority over private ones (even weddings!), the date of a wedding cannot be confirmed on the church calendar until six months prior to the date for non-members and nine months for members. However, once the wedding and rehearsal dates and facilities are established with the minister and you have paid your deposit, they are definite and are protected from other programs conflicting with the rooms needed. CCC is a busy place: there may be other events held at the church that day in other parts of the building.

Wedding Hostess

The second step, after meeting with our minister, is to contact our wedding hostess. She is an indispensable liaison between you, the church, its history, and traditions. You will find the hostess a rich source of information that will make her an invaluable problem solver for the situations unique to a wedding.

Together, you and the hostess will develop a chart that will cover the details of the service. The wedding hostess will give instruction at rehearsals and assist in any way possible prior to and during the actual wedding service. In short, she is a facilitator to ensure that all flows smoothly. We feel confident that we are serving you and our congregation best by insisting that she be a part of weddings in our building.

Sound System

• When the use of the church sound system is desired for the musician and/or ministers, it is recommend that arrangements be made with one of the current sound engineers.
• It is customary to offer remuneration for the technician’s service. The fee is set forth in the Schedule of Fees.

Music

Your third contact after meeting with the wedding hostess is to make an appointment with your accompanist. It is the bride’s responsibility to supply sheet music to be used for the wedding. Since events that take place at CCC are a reflection upon the church itself, the taste and traditions of the congregation must be honored. Should there be any questions about appropriateness, final decisions must rest with the minister.

Since the church is equipped with an excellent organ, piano, and electronic keyboard, it is strongly recommended that one of our church’s regular musicians or music team members be used.

Arrangements for any other musician must be cleared by the Worship & Music Minister prior to any contact with that person.

A minimum fee is recommended in the Schedule of Fees.

All music used with the ceremony should be in keeping with the sacredness and dignity of a church wedding. This is especially true of any vocal lyrics.

Floral Decorations

• All floral decorations are the responsibility of the wedding party.
• Florists should check with the church office before decorating the church as well as to arrange for access to the building.
• All rented equipment must be removed within two days of the scheduled event.
• The Visual Arts Ministry of the church may have decorations and fixtures in the sanctuary at the time of a wedding that are different from the time that the wedding was scheduled. The wedding party must consult with the chairman of the Visual Arts team prior to the wedding to determine what decorations will be removed and what must remain. Whenever possible, if the Visual Arts team is aware of a church wedding far enough in advance, they will try to incorporate the wedding colors into the decor.
• It is mandatory that the church’s brass candelabras be used if candles in the ceremony are desired. Check the rental charge on the Schedule of Fees.
  The traffic flow and the appearance of our sanctuary work best with draping the center aisle. The florist should understand that they are not to damage our sanctuary by the use of wire, nails, candles, etc. Consult with our wedding hostess if there is a need to move any sanctuary furnishings. You will want to clarify with the florist that they are responsible for cleaning up after themselves prior to the wedding.

Wedding Pictures

We strongly encourage all formal photographs be taken prior to the wedding, approximately 2-1/2 hours before the ceremony.

There are several reasons for this recommendation. When the wedding party pictures are taken before the wedding, the photographer can have everything completed and the wedding party is free to go to the reception immediately after the wedding. To take the pictures following the ceremony requires a minimum of 45 minutes, thus keeping the guests at the reception waiting.

It has been estimated that there is a loss of one-fourth of the guests for every 45 minutes the bride and groom delay arriving at the reception. The crush from hugs and kisses after the wedding ceremony also takes their toll of the wedding party. Thus, the final pictures are not as beautiful as they could be.

Before the wedding, the camera picks up an excitement and anticipation of the coming wedding. After the wedding, the feeling is “Hurry up, let’s get to the reception.” There is also confusion with wedding guests and on-lookers watching the picture-taking process.

We understand the bride may be disappointed to have the groom see her before the wedding. To compensate for the groom seeing her come down the aisle in her wedding gown, at a given time we will make everyone leave the bride’s room and pose the bride with her veil and bouquet.

Then we send the groom to the bride’s room for a very meaningful and special time of privacy together before the activities begin. After this brief time together, the groom will take his bride down to the photographer, and the picture taking session begins.
We have had wonderful feedback from brides and grooms because they followed this recommendation of taking all pictures prior to the wedding. Please carefully consider this recommendation and talk this over with the wedding hostess. The wedding hostess will inform you of other details in regard to photographs.

Rehearsal

In coordinating the many activities of the church program, we set aside one hour for each wedding rehearsal. Please be certain your wedding party is prompt. The bride is responsible for the wedding party being on time for the rehearsal. If the rehearsal would have to go past the allotted hour because the wedding party was late, the rehearsal will be terminated at the one-hour point.

Reception

We encourage you to explore options other than the church for your reception. The Family Life Center is offered for use (for a fee) to members only. However, all ministerial staff must approve the use of the facilities for the reception, and the calendar must have no conflicts for the room for setup, reception and cleanup. Given the multi-use of the room by many ministries, the availability of the Family Life Center for receptions will be very limited. All decorating and serving at the reception is provided by the bride and groom.

Other

• Throwing birdseed must be restricted to the outside of the building. Rice and confetti are not permitted due to the danger they present to birds.
• The kitchen facilities may be used with the understanding that the kitchen and all equipment used are left clean and in good working order. The Kitchen Team will determine and advise the Senior Minister in the event of a problem. An additional fee may be charged in the event the kitchen is not left in proper order. Also, the kitchen is a multi-use room. Other ministries may have access to the kitchen.
• No alcoholic beverages or tobacco products are to be used at any time in any way—not within the church facilities, on church property, nor in the parking lots. The bride and groom will make these rules known to all members of the wedding party.

Schedule of Fees

* This fee covers technician’s time only. We cannot be held responsible for the quality of sound on audio recordings due to the uncontrolled aspects of sound and video. No refund will be made.

**    All ministerial staff must approve and there must be no conflict for setup or event for the Family Life Center use.

Security Deposit: A refundable security deposit is required for both members and non-members in the amount of $250 due at the time of reservation. The check will be cashed. When the church is inspected after the wedding/reception to insure that everything has been left the way it was found and there are no damages, etc, a check for the deposit, minus damages, will be issued. If wedding is cancelled, a full deposit will be returned.

No food or drink is permitted in the sanctuary at any time.

Payment: The wedding party is responsible for making individual payments according to the wedding policy Schedule of Fees. CCC is not responsible for running payments through the church financial system. This even includes the building usage fee for non-members which shall be a separate check payable to Cicero Christian Church. The wedding hostess will distribute the individual checks to the appropriate parties. All fees must be completely paid two weeks prior to the scheduled wedding date.

Application for Wedding

Please open and print out the application form, fill out return this form to the church along with your deposit check. You may also call the church and ask for the wedding booklet with the application be sent to you.

Receipt of this form initiates the wedding procedure. The date will not be reserved until both the deposit check and the completed form are received.

Cicero Christian Church 1715 Stringtown Pike  Cicero, IN 46034  317.984.4653