Weddings at CCV
Celebrate your special day with us.
At CCV, we believe a wedding is one of the most important spiritual moments in a person’s life. Therefore, we take our potential involvement in your special occasion quite seriously. Our goal is not only to help you have a memorable wedding day but to help prepare you and your future spouse to build a successful, lifelong partnership. While a lifelong, loving marriage partnership doesn’t come easily, we believe that with Jesus’ help, it’s within everyone’s reach. We’re excited about how God is going to work in your relationship over the upcoming months!
CCV’s staff pastors perform weddings. Please review the information below so that you have a clear understanding of what the wedding process at Christ’s Church of the Valley looks like from start to finish. After reading through the information, the next step is to complete the Wedding Request Form.
Process
Here’s what takes place once your completed form is received:
Form Review
The Wedding Request Form is reviewed by CCV’s Connections Pastor to determine if either the bride or groom meets the requirements to be married at Christ’s Church of the Valley. If the Wedding Request Form is approved, the Connections Pastor will contact you to confirm your wedding date and time and to let you know which CCV pastor will perform your ceremony.
Initial Meeting
Once a CCV staff pastor is assigned, that pastor will contact you to schedule a meeting to discuss the wedding date, plans, and other ideas. At this meeting, the CCV Wedding Agreement is reviewed and signed by the couple and the CCV staff pastor.
Additional Meetings
The CCV staff pastor and the couple will meet two additional times before the wedding ceremony. The first meeting will be conducted to finalize wedding plans, and the second meeting will be the actual wedding rehearsal.
Marriage License
It’s the responsibility of the couple to obtain the marriage license before the wedding. The CCV staff pastor is responsible for mailing the marriage license to the county office following the wedding.
Wedding Day
On the day of the wedding, the CCV staff pastor arrives approximately 45 minutes before the wedding and leaves after the ceremony is complete, and the marriage license is signed. While the staff pastor and his/her family may choose to join the wedding party for the reception, this may not be possible.
Requirements
For a CCV staff pastor to perform a wedding, the couple must:
Counseling
Complete six weeks of premarital counseling by a Christian counselor licensed in the State of Pennsylvania. The counseling sessions must be completed at least two months before the wedding date, and a schedule of three follow up counseling sessions is set for three months, six months, and 12 months after the wedding day.
Upon the completion of counseling, the counselor is required to send a letter to the CCV staff pastor stating the sessions were completed, including the dates for the three follow up sessions. This letter must be received no later than 45 days before the wedding.
Relationship
If a couple wants to be married by a CCV staff pastor and they’re living together and are sexually active, the couple must agree to stay apart sexually from the date of signing the CCV Wedding Agreement until the wedding night. Because the Bible’s direction is that a man and a woman should not have sex before they’re married, we believe this commitment before marriage is the best way to start fresh and do things God’s way.
CCV staff pastors believe that God’s intention is that marriage is for life; however, they also understand that there are times when a marriage fails. CCV staff pastors will marry those with divorce in their past. We do require that the couple make this a significant area of exploration in their counseling sessions.
Other Information
Facility and Services
CCV’s current facility is available, but couples can also rent other church buildings, chapels, community buildings, and outdoor facilities for their ceremony. Regarding the different aspects of the ceremony, such as programs, flowers, and musicians, it’s the responsibility of the couple to make these arrangements. The CCV staff pastor will gladly assist as much as possible to provide contacts and direction.
Fees
The fee for the wedding ceremony is $500 and is to be paid directly to the CCV officiating staff pastor at the time the Wedding Agreement is signed. If for some reason, the wedding does not happen, the couple will receive a full refund.
If a CCV is building is used, there is a fee of $250 for usage.
Should sound/technical support be required from CCV during the ceremony, an amount of $25/hour is to be paid directly to the technician.
Timing
To meet the requirements for a CCV wedding, we recommend you initiate the wedding process 12 months before your wedding date. CCV does not schedule weddings on Easter and Thanksgiving weekends or the weeks before or after Christmas.
Please contact Executive Assistant, Christy Mars, at christym@ccvlive.com if you have additional questions.