Getting Married in Rusper Church
Countless couples have made their vows and had their marriages blessed in St Mary Magdalene’s Church since at least the 1200s. Recent changes in marriage law have made it easier for couples to marry in Rusper Church. We are committed to encouraging couples to make this important beginning to their married life on holy ground in God’s house.
Further information can be found at
Real Rusper Weddings
VICTORIA & GARY DECEMBER 2008
The first time we laid our eyes on St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Rusper, we knew it was the place for us to get married! It was a cold, wintry December afternoon and we were having lunch with friends at The Plough Inn opposite. We had only known each other for a matter of months, but we both knew we had found soul-mates in each other and sure enough, come March, 12 weeks later, we were engaged to be married!
Immediately after deciding we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, our thoughts drifted back to the beautiful Church in Rusper as being the perfect setting to make the most important vows we would ever make to each other. We therefore made a meeting with Nick for April 1st (April Fools Day of all days!) and although on initial discussion found we lived just outside the parish, Nick very kindly agreed to marry us and very soon we became heavily involved in the Rusper village way of life.
The next few months leading up to the wedding flew by! Nick was so patient, with nothing being too much trouble – even down to showing us the various lighting levels in the Church as we had decided to have a winter’s afternoon wedding which involved a candle-lit theme. There really was no need for us to have worried though, as come the day itself it was perfectly sunny, crisp and blue – so much so that the late afternoon sunlight streamed through the church windows drowning out the candles that our florist had spent hours before lighting! None of this mattered though; we had the most perfect day of our lives, and are just so grateful to Nick and everyone else at the Church for helping us fulfil our dream of a magical, winter, village wedding – something we both will never forget!
JANE & ANDY JULY 2009
Saturday 25th July 2009 - a normal weekend day for most people but a very special one for Andrew and me. Having lived in Rusper for a year there was no doubt in either of our minds that when we married it would have to be in St Mary Magdalene's, the village church. Not just because it is such a picturesque location steeped in history, but also because Rusper itself had welcomed us so warmly - there was no other place we would rather be married.
After a week of heavy rain we were blessed with a day that dawned bright and sunny. 3.30pm seemed an awfully long way away when I woke up early on our wedding day. Yet, when I finally stood in the west entrance archway with my arm linked through my father’s, looking down the aisle to where Andrew was standing, waiting; all the organising, planning, stress and worry of the months leading up to that moment simply slipped away. A strange sort of peace descended upon me. Everything seemed to click into place and felt - right. Until that moment I hadn’t realised what a privilege it would be to have the chance to walk through so many family and friends who had all given up their time to witness our marriage. Nor did I realise how unnerving it would feel to be the centre of attention on such a momentous occasion. Thankfully, Revd Nick Flint has that enviable gift of infusing calm and serenity and helped make the ceremony for both of us the perfect balance of love, humour, happiness and joy.
They say that every picture tells a story and this one shot from the top of the church tower looking down onto our wedding party was an innovative opportunity to capture everyone who was there from a more original angle. We were thrilled to have the chance to take photos from such a viewpoint. My brave brother (our official photographer) scaled skinny ladders and swept aside ancient cobwebs to access the dizzy heights of the tower and snapped some wonderful photos for us. Unfortunately, the bell ringers who had pealed out such harmonious chimes, tied back their ropes, locked up the tower
door and set off innocently down the churchyard footpath for a well deserved rest completely unaware that my, now very hot and vaguely panicked sibling, was trapped inside…. With no fairytale prince at hand to rescue him an intuitive in-law stepped into the role of rescuer. Having heard my cries of, “Where’s Stephen? We need to finish the photos!” and seeing the bell ringers traipsing out of the churchyard she quickly put two and two together and grabbed them before they disappeared with the keys. A short while later a rather dishevelled and hot-looking brother emerged squinting into the daylight with a small community of tower insects clinging to his cobwebbed hair and suit. He was saved! As were the wedding photos.
Our wedding holds so many precious memories that will bring sunshine to any gloomy day. The scent of the church flowers as I stepped across the threshold of the church; the bells ringing out across the village; the smiles on our friends’ faces; the emotions delivered through the readings and the moment when we turned to each other and exchanged our vows. And the wonderful thing about living in Rusper is that we have the church to return to whenever we wish - even if it is simply to sit quietly inside and reflect on such treasured moments.
