Ideas for getting married cheaply but not in a registry office

[MrsMoschops]

A big wedding is just not us, we're both anti-social and don't like a fuss

I'd just prefer to get married as soon as possible. No frills registry office, just us, nice meal afterwards, home in time for the kids after school. I'm not really bothered about an actual wedding, I just want to be married to him.

DP thinks that would be depressing and not special enough. He wants us to have a nice, memorable day (just us, no guests) and at least one night away as we never have any time to ourselves away from the children

And there the difficulties begin...
I've looked online and these secret runaway wedding places are too expensive. I'm not even sure we would be able to get the children sorted out for an overnight stay anyway. Then there's the fact that if you do one of those places, I'd need to start thinking of a wedding dress, hair, flowers etc.

So MN, please come to my rescue with some ideas. where can we get married that isn't a registry office, but costs next to nothing and yet also make it special enough for my lovely man?

[JinkxMonsoon]

Registry offices are usually nice venues. The ceremony is quick anyway, so you can make the rest of the day "special" by doing whatever you want afterwards.

[Evergreen17]

We are getting married next month in a registry office (they can be quite nice) and then taking our witnesses for lunch and after that just us to a fancy hotel with spa and restaurant

Just what we want

Maybe something like that?

[YesIDoFeelBetter]

Scotland. Outdoors. Humanist ceremony. Let the kids come along.

The cost of the celebrant would be not much more than a registry office and you can literally get married ANYWHERE! Only eleven (I think?) countries worldwide allow you to do this.

Congrats

[SweetPea79]

Contact hotels that do weddings, one near us with do a civil ceremony for £350 out of season for

[PassiveAgressiveQueen]

I'd need to start thinking of a wedding dress, hair, flowers etc.

No no no.
You don't. Don't fall into that trap.
You can gave a church wedding in a jeans and t-shirt if you want.
You can have a registry office wedding and bar-b-q in your back garden (my sister did).

You don't have to buy a single flower, you just need to decondition yourself.

I had a shop ex-display wedding dress so was last seasons design (apparently). Etc.

The only bit of the day that matters is standing up and saying "i want to be with this person for the rest of my life, look everyone this person" every single other thing is an added frill which can be discarded by the couple.

The only thing i can't imagine is not having family and friends there.

[Neome]

Whereabouts are you?

[LifeIsGoodish]

Youcan make a simple registry office wedding truly special by writing your own vows. As long as you say certain legal phrases, and avoid absolutely anything remotely religious - the Registrar will be able to advise your.

[HedgehogHedgehog]

National trust??? Some of their properties are cheaper than others and you can have a beautiful day in lovely surroundings that people will remember.
We are getting married in one and it was quite reasonable for what it is. It came in at around a thousand. We are getting married late afternoon there and then just going to the pub afterwards to celebrate. My dress was a couple of hundred but you can get much cheaper dresses than that, maybe look at dresses that arent specifically meant to be wedding dresses but are just evening dresses. Flowers you can really do yourself. Cakes you can get from M&S...... the great thing about NT is that they just leave you to it. So weve rented the venue and they give you as much or as little input as you like. We are bringing our own champaign and plastic flutes. We had to arrange a registrar and that was a hundred quid or so but compared to hotel weddings its really been a snip id certainly recommend xx

[Sedona123]

How much are you thinking of spending on the wedding, including the overnight stay? As a PP has said, don't worry about a wedding dress, flowers etc. I bought a wedding dress when I got married, but now really wish I had just bought a dress that I could also have worn out to dinner on our wedding anniversaries instead. No huge regrets, but the most expensive dress I have ever bought, and I only wore it for about 9 hours!!

[HandsomeGroomGiveHerRoom]

I think it would be a shame to just do the legalities, have lunch them get back for the school run - I'm with your dp on that.

Lots of towns have nice register offices. One near me is in a historic building (in a very historic and beautiful city) and costs £90 for a no frills weekday wedding. That, lunch and dinner, a night in a half decent hotel, a new dress, a small bouquet even - you could do it all for £500 quite easily.

[NameChange30]

Registry office is the cheapest way of doing it. That or church but as you haven't mentioned it, I assume you don't want a church wedding - unless it was a tiny chapel somewhere?!

As soon as you start looking at licensed wedding venues, and booking a registrar to attend, you have to pay a LOT more. The registrar fees are higher and the venues usually charge a lot.

So I think you should book the nicest registry office you can find (there are some lovely ones) and do something special to celebrate afterwards. You could book a celebratory meal and a night or two in a fancy hotel for example.

[Ladybird08]

I think you can get married at any registry office in England but you do have to give notice in your local registry office.
Look online, some registry office are stunning. Then you could combine your wedding with a night away

[Mizuna]

St Pancras station at the champagne bar. £250 I think. Was brilliant. You do have to have champagne as well though but that doesn't have to be much on top of the venue fee. Talk to the excellent event person there, Iwona. (Nb it's £500 for the local registrar in addition)