Non-approved premises
In England and Wales, the law requires that for marriages and civil partnerships to be legally valid, they must take place at a location which has been duly licensed as an approved premises for marriages and civil partnerships and which is open to the general public.
If you are looking to have a ceremony in a venue that is not licensed, or in a unique setting such as outdoors or in a non-permanent structure such as in a marquee or under a pagoda for example, we may still be able to accommodate your ceremony.
The process
The ceremony would not be legally valid, so instead we would ask you to attend at the Register office to complete your legal marriage or civil partnership registration at some point before the non-legal ceremony. This would mean that you could have your preferred location for your ceremony, with our registrars acting as civil celebrants, but would still be legally married or in a civil partnership at the end of the ceremony.
Remember that you and your partner would still need to give notice of intention to marry or enter civil partnership at least 29 days before your ceremony or, if you are subject to immigration control, at least 70 days before your ceremony.
Registrars would need first to assess the exact location of the ceremony to ensure that it adequately meets health and safety standards.
The cost
The fees for registrars attending a ceremony at a non-approved venue along with a Register Office ceremony are shown below;
|
Non Approved Venue + Register Office Ceremony £62 (Strictly 2 witnesses only) |
Day |
November - March |
April – October |
|
Monday to Thursday |
£706.00 |
£716.00 |
|
|
Friday and Saturday |
£771.00 |
£781.00 |
|
|
Sunday, Bank or Public Holiday |
£816.00 |
£826.00 |
For weekday ceremonies on Valentines Day, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve an additional £130.00 will be charged, excluding those in the Registrar’s Office.
Our fees and charges page has details of our ceremony options and prices.
The terms and conditions below apply to ceremonies at Thurrock Register Office.
Thurrock Register Office ceremonies – terms and conditions (PDF 134.92KB)
How to book
Once you have your preferred location, date and time in mind, contact us for more information or to ask about arranging a ceremony.
We will ask for an initial non-refundable booking fee of £160 for the Registrars to attend.