Civil weddings

You can have your civil marriage in any register office or licensed venue of your choice anywhere in England or Wales.

For a venue to be licensed it will have been approved for civil marriages and civil partnerships, by the local authority where the premises is located, and these include hotels and stately homes.

Arranging a civil marriage

To arrange a civil marriage at a licensed venue, you must first get in touch with the venue to make a provisional booking and check availability of dates and times. You should then contact the register office in the district where the premises is located, to ensure that the registration officers are available to attend your marriage.

If you have chosen to hold your civil marriage in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, there are many venues which are licensed to hold civil marriages and civil partnerships.

The registration officers for these venues are provided by Registration Services.

If you have chosen to hold your civil marriage at 1 Spring Terrace you will only need to make one booking with us. We will allocate the registration officers.

Details on how to book the registration officers or 1 Spring Terrace can be found on our making a booking page.

Giving Notice

Once you have booked a register office or a venue and the registration officers, you will each need to give notice of your intention to marry. This is the term used for the legal preliminaries. Notice must be given at your local register office, unless either of you are subject to immigration control.

The civil marriage ceremony

Once you have both given notice of your intention, and the legal waiting period of 15 clear days has elapsed, a 'Certificate for Marriage' is issued for each of you. You are then free to get married.