Church of England votes to increase marriage and funeral fees
Fears that the poor could be priced out of church weddings as
General Synod agrees to raise fees from £296 to £415 Church
wedding Church weddings will now cost £415, not including
heating. Photograph: Juice Images/Alamy  It will be more
expensive to get married or have a funeral in the Church of
England next year after its law-making body voted to increase
fees for both.  The General Synod, which is meeting in London
this week, agreed to push funeral service fees up from £102 to
£160 and wedding ceremony fees from £296 to £415 in an attempt
to standardise costs across the country's 16,000 churches. The
increase includes lighting and administration, but not heating,
and comes into effect next year.  While there was overwhelming
support for the price hike, some Synod members spoke against it.
Simon Killwick, a priest from the Moss Side area of Manchester,
said: "Such a fee increase seems to me hard to justify in times
of financial austerity and eve