Congratulations! We are excited about your wedding plans! This is a very important event and we want to do everything we can to help make it both spiritually meaningful and naturally beautiful.

Please make sure you have completed all of the steps before moving forward.

• Complete the PreMarried Life Class.
• Complete up to 4 sessions of premarital guidance with Victory Pastor. Request guidance
• Receive an Executive Pastor of Ministries’ approval for wedding.

If you are hosting your wedding offsite, please skip Sections 3-11.

Section 1: GENERAL PRACTICES & STANDARDS

Thoroughly read the Victory Church Wedding Information and Guidelines below, which includes all policies and procedures related to planning your wedding or vow renewal.

• Victory Church provides wedding services to members only. A member is an individual who has formally joined Victory Church by attending the membership class.
• When choosing a wedding date, you will be able to select a date based on Victory’s availability.
• Our dates are pre-determined and we will work with you to try to find the best day that works.
• We recommend that you schedule your wedding date 9 months in advance.
• Weddings should not be scheduled on major holidays or on Sundays.
• In order to reserve your wedding, the bride and groom must sign Victory’s Wedding Agreement and submit a refundable deposit within 2 weeks. Once completed, you must meet with your Wedding Coordinator to discuss your wedding details. The Wedding Coordinator will meet with you 2 to 3 times prior to your wedding day.
• We request that there be no smoking or alcohol in any of the church buildings or on church property.
• If a couple decides to cohabitate prior to marriage, VWC will decline the use of a staff pastor as a wedding officiant and the use of VWC facilities for the marriage ceremony. We also ask that couples that are living together but not having sex to move into separate homes from one another. Scripture tells us to “flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18) and to place ourselves in a living situation that gives us the best chance for purity and separation from temptation (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; Ephesians 5:3; Hebrews 13:4). It is our observation that couples that honor the Lord in every aspect of their relationship experience greater oneness, peace, and joy in marriage.

Section 2: PASTOR’S GUIDELINES

The procedures indicated below are to be adhered to if the wedding is either performed at our facility or away from Victory Church.

• Marriage is a covenant made between two people – one man and one woman – with God. The Christian marriage covenant requires the married parties to be faithful, loving and helpful to each other as long as they both shall live. (Malachi 2:15-16; Matthew 5:32; 19:5-6, 9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 15; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 5:22-25)
• Only Victory Church licensed or ordained staff pastors may perform wedding ceremonies on church facilities or properties.
• A staff pastor will counsel with the bride and groom up to 4 sessions (in addition to the completion of the PreMarried Life class) prior to performing the wedding ceremony. This premarital guidance should be completed before any arrangements and wedding plans have been finalized. During the guidance session, the pastor should ascertain from both parties if they are born again according to Romans 10:9. NO ONE should be married if they both are not born again and are not on one accord in the major areas. (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)
• Premarital Process consists of the following: 1) PreMarried Life Class: 6 weeks and 2) PreMarital Guidance: Up to 4 sessions. Once completed couples will meet with Wedding Director.
• Upon completion of premarital guidance, a recommendation to proceed with the ceremony will be submitted to the Executive Pastor for review and final approval. No marriage ceremonies will be permitted without the Executive Pastor’s approval first.
• An honorarium is to be submitted by money order for the officiating pastor performing your wedding ceremony at the last guidance session.
• Offsite Weddings: Mileage further than 25 miles will be .55 cents per mile over that 25 mile mark.
• Onsite Weddings: All weddings/rehearsals performed at Victory Church must start on time. In the event the bride, groom or members of the wedding party are late the officiating pastor may leave the church premises no earlier than 30 minutes after the time that the wedding/rehearsal was to begin.
  Onsite Weddings: We will begin no later than 15 minutes after scheduled time. It is the couple’s responsibility to make the wedding party, guests and vendors aware of the schedule. The wedding party is asked to be on the church campus 1 hour before the wedding.

Section 3: GENERAL PRACTICES | WEDDING DAY ELEMENTS

SOUND SYSTEMS, MUSICIANS & INSTRUMENTS: Sound amplification is required for weddings at VWC. The vocalists, musicians and speakers are asked to meet with the Victory Production team one hour prior to the wedding to finalize equipment location and microphone use. Please provide a jump drive with both music and pictures if you want to have those in the wedding. The Production team’s fee is located on pages 11-13.

DRESSING ROOM: You will need to bring your own equipment for this room (iron, ironing board, full-length mirror, etc.). All other members of the wedding party are asked to arrive fully dressed.

COMMUNION: The church offers communion and will provide the elements for communion where necessary (with the exception of kneelers).

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Pictures before the ceremony should conclude 30 minutes prior to the start time of the wedding. Pictures must be completed no later than 1 hour after the wedding ceremony is concluded or your reserved end time.

UNITY CANDLES: We offer unity candleholders here at Victory, but you are responsible for providing your own candles.

RECEPTIONS: At this time, we are unable to perform receptions here on campus.

Section 4

SANCTUARY CAPACITIES

The Chapel
The Chapel accommodates a maximum of 810 people. We are only able to remove chairs in the center aisle.

Student Building Sanctuary
This sanctuary accommodates a maximum of 300 people. If you would like a special setup, please let the Wedding Coordinator know and they will let you know what can and cannot be done.

Main Building Elementary Sanctuary
This sanctuary accommodates a maximum of 400 people in a theatre seating arrangement. If you would like a special setup, please let the Wedding Coordinator know and they will let you know what can and cannot be done.

CEREMONY TIMES

Friday
Ceremony Begins: 5pm or later
Ceremony Ends: 10pm

Saturday
Ceremony Begins: 10am to 12pm
Ceremony Ends: 2pm* (Building must be cleared by this time to prepare for subsequent events on the campus.)

Sunday
We are unable to hold weddings on Sundays due to weekend services.

Section 5: PLANNING THE REHEARSAL

Once your wedding date is confirmed, your reservation will be scheduled on the master event calendar. All members of your wedding party, hosts and honorary guests should be in attendance at your wedding rehearsal. Please ask your guests to arrive 15 minutes early, as there are other events that may be scheduled on the church campus. Your rehearsal needs to start on time. Wedding rehearsals are scheduled to last 2 hours.

• Schedule your wedding rehearsal date with the Wedding Director at the same time that you schedule your wedding date.
• Your Wedding Coordinator is to be used for the coordination of locking/unlocking the building and supervising the building’s condition before and after your rehearsal.
• Schedule your rehearsal at a time when ALL members of the wedding party can be present. Please see that everyone involved in the wedding rehearsal remains in the area of the rehearsal. In the event one of them cannot be present, a stand in (substitute) must be provided.
• We recommend that you use stand-in props in your rehearsal to simulate the flowers, rings, etc. that you plan to use in the actual wedding.
• You will be able to request musicians from our Victory staff, but you will not be guaranteed to have them at your wedding. Their attendance will be based on their availability. There will be a separate fee based on the artist.

Section 6: SETUP & CLEANING PERSONNEL

It is the wedding party and/or decorator’s responsibility to set up all décor needed for the wedding. Notify your Wedding Coordinator if you will be using a wedding planner for the day. Please send a list of all names and respective duties to your Wedding Coordinator at least two weeks prior to the wedding date. She will be available to your representative for direction and assistance.

Decorations need to be removed from the building at the conclusion of the ceremony. Any rental items that need to be picked up may be stored in a designated storage room (see Wedding Coordinator for exact location). All rented equipment should be delivered to the church no more than 24 hours before the wedding and returned immediately after the wedding, or the following business day.

The throwing of birdseed and the use of bubbles are permitted outside the church building. No rice, confetti, silly string, sparklers or flower petals (real or fake) are permitted due to the mess they leave behind. Outside premises should be cleaned from wedding celebrations and activities. Please let your coordinator know what you would like to use. All items that you are looking to have as a sendoff need to be approved by our executive pastoral team.

There is also a cleaning fee assessed to ensure that building is back in order for the services for the upcoming weekend. Cleaning fee is located in the section below.

Section 7: WEDDING INVESTMENT

Please read the next part in its entirety. Any questions may be discussed with the Wedding Director or Coordinator.

DEPOSIT: A separate, refundable deposit of $400.00 in the form of a money order should be given to the Wedding Director 60 days prior to the wedding date. It will be held until 1 week after the wedding as surety until compliance with all of the above duties has been determined. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN FORFEITURE OF THE DEPOSIT. Otherwise, your deposit will be sent in the mail.

PASTOR: An honorarium is to be submitted for the officiating pastor performing your wedding ceremony (whether on-site or off-site). The honorarium covers the pastors time during the guidance sessions as well as covers the rehearsal and day of the wedding. We have set a minimum of $250 but can give more if you would like to.

WEDDING MINISTRY: For all weddings held at Victory Church, we require that the bride and groom use Victory’s Wedding Ministry Team. You will be given a Wedding Director who will provide access to the church building and assign a Wedding Coordinator. The Wedding Coordinator will then meet with you to provide access to church owned material and our technical crew and staff. The Wedding Coordinator will direct your rehearsal, as well as your on-site wedding day events with a Wedding Assistant. (Note: The Wedding Coordinator is not a wedding planner.)

SOUND: Victory has a state-of‐the‐art sound system. We require that a sound technician from the church run the equipment both at the rehearsal and during the wedding ceremony.

SOUND (BACKSTAGE): If you will have a band during your ceremony, an additional sound technician is required to run sound backstage with two or more individuals for an additional fee. Services will include running sound on the night of the rehearsal and the ceremony on the day of the wedding.

LIGHTING: Victory has a highly sophisticated lighting system, which can only be run by approved personnel. A Victory lighting technician will be needed for your ceremony in the event that lights go out, there is a fire alarm, the system shuts down, etc. Services will include the rehearsal, wedding ceremony and 1 hour of programming. We recommend that a meeting take place between the couple and the lighting tech at least 1 month prior to the rehearsal night to allow viewing of all available options. The Wedding Coordinator will facilitate this meeting and coordinate dates.

GRAPHICS: For any graphical needs (slideshows, etc.) please provide a USB flash drive with pictures and music. This is an optional expense.

FACILITY SERVICES: Our Facility Services team will ensure your wedding sanctuary site is set up with the proper amount of seats in your requested arrangement. This team also ensures that additional items (tables, chairs, etc.) are pulled from storage and set up as you’ve requested for your special day.

INVESTMENT TABLES: Please view the investment table that includes the remaining rates here.

Section 8: FOOD STANDARDS

• Food and beverages are not allowed in the Sanctuary or Chapel.
• No alcoholic beverages of any kind will be served on church property.
• You may bring light snacks for your wedding party while waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Section 9: INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FLORIST/DECORATOR

Please print and give this document to your florist/decorator. Download document.

Section 10: WEDDING DETAILS | TIME OF ARRIVALS

Please fill out the fields below for the Wedding Coordinator.

Section 11: BRIDAL PARTY INFORMATION

Please complete in full detail with names and order of all bridal party members.

Section 12: WEDDING AGREEMENT

I have read the material as written in the Wedding Information and Guidelines above and agree to abide by it in whole and in part where applicable. We also are in Agreement with the Statement of Faith found here.