Did anyone have a civic centre wedding?

[CatEatCatWorld]

Planning on booking up for next august in our local civic centre. Theres only really 2 option, wedding for 2+2 witnesses or wedding for 2+12 guests. So we're going for the 2and one, luckily we both have small-ish families. However what does a civic centre wedding entail? Do you do the whole walking down the aisle? Is a big-ish dress overkill for a ceremony that lasts 30 mins (not sure if we will be doing lunch after-all depends on current restrictions) are bridesmaids overkill? (There will be 4/5) I've never been to one so just unsure what to expect. Thanks.

I haven’t been to one in the UK. However, similar affairs abroad were more a case of having a nice white dress on (more knee length sort of thing rather than a full-on gown). No aisle to walk down just a low key ceremony followed by a meal round the corner.

I got married at leatherhead registry office. Its a lovely old building. I wir a white wedding dress and tiara. No veil. Hubby, best man and father all wore morning suits. It was perfect.

I'm sure you could have 6 or 8 guests if you wanted!

I got married in a register office in a full white dress and tiara. DH wore a suit and waistcoat, I had a bridesmaid and carried a bouquet.
Civil wedding ceremonies in the U.K. do not allow any form of religion (not even music without words- I wanted Ave Maria, no chance). I had traditional sounding vows and a short poem was read aloud.
Our reception was an afternoon tea style party.

My experience was that they were keen to let you do what you wanted to make it feel like a traditional wedding (though like NettyTree it was a standalone register office in an attractive old building). We had around 35 people which was the max they would accommodate. I had a big white dress and bouquet but no bridesmaids.
We were pretty causal about the arrangements and I regretted a few things afterwards:
Things to check, if they bother you:
*What music they will play (you can probably provide your own though note what PP says about anything with a religious origin, as she's right on that).
*The wording they use for the vows (ours was disappointingly matter-of-fact And modern, none of the Til Death us do Part)
*If you want to do the aisle thing, talk to them as they probably aren't expecting this. In our experience, we were both called into a room before the ceremony to do paperwork and complete the register ready for signing during the ceremony. So we really didn't get that "entrance of the bride" moment, the first time the groom sees the dress etc. Once that was done, we just walked together into the room where the guests were waiting for the ceremony. Probably you could arrange to do the paperwork separately, if you wanted the big entrance moment.
It sounds as if your Register Office is pretty small; it may not be as I describe at all. But do check beforehand, if these things are likely to bother you. If you're only doing it to get your affairs in order, you probably won't care, but if you want more, find out beforehand exactly what you can expect.

I got married in a register office.

One thing to bear in mind is that you're not allowed 'religious' music. If you want a song they will have to vet the lyrics to ensure it's secular.

I wore a traditional dress - you make an entrance and walk to the front as you would in the church, and you can be photographed 'signing the register' (not actually as you sign, but posing by the book) so I would say it's definitely worth dressing up in whatever you want.

x-posted about the music but to clarify on providing your own - we had a classic rock song and had to give them a copy of the lyrics to approve.

Thank you all for replying. I think usually it can hold 35, but due to covid it's down to 12 (this could change by next year)

Tbh I'm not fussed on walking down the aisle, I hate being the centre of attention so this suits me perfectly (unless maybe my fiance and I could walk down together) music, I'm also not bothered about. I just want to go in and get married, but I really would love a nice dress. (I've got my eye one one-way do you think?) and my girls in nice dresses.

unless maybe my fiance and I could walk down together

Yes, you can - that's the beauty of a civil wedding, you can 'choreograph' it more or less as you wish. In my experience, the registrars will ask in advance how you want to do that sort of thing.

If you're not fussed about music, but want something in the background, they have their own you can use.

I really like your possible dress - the neckline is lovely, it's nice to see something with an actual design rather than the generic strapless bodices that are so common at the moment.

Mine was also in a register office (situated in a town hall building). We had 3 guests. I wore a white dress but it wasn't a proper wedding dress. It's totally up to you what style you want to go for - if you want a big dress then go for it. I personally would have felt a bit out of place in a big dress so decided to go more casual. It's also up to you if you want to walk down the aisle, have music etc. I guess it also depends if it's possible due to the room layout. My ceremony room had a small aisle (almost all seats empty ) so I walked down with my dad. If you contact your local office they will give you all the details, they might even have the form you fill in in advance on their website.

Also bridesmaids would not be overkill at all

We only had 20 guests and that was another advantage of the register office - they'd have been rattling around in the average church and it would have felt empty.

The main reason for choosing a civil ceremony was that I'm an agnostic so I didn't want a religious ceremony. My husband is actually a believer so I said I'd have a church ceremony if he wanted it, as long as the vicar was prepared to accept that I wasn't a believer, because I wasn't going to tell a pack of lies - but my husband was happy to go with the civil option, so I never found out whether a vicar would have married us on the basis of 1 x agnostic, 1 x Christian.

I've been married three times in a register office At all three, we brought our own music to play; and had a choice of scripts from quite archaic to very modern.

The first I wore a full-length dress, husband #1 in full suit with a best man, we had about 50 guests. This was quite formal, I did walk in after everybody else was there (so 'down the aisle')

The second, I wore a tea-dress, husband #2 in suit, we had about a dozen guests. We played this much more informally.

The third was the nicest building (an old town hall), I wore a Lindybop dress with full net skirt, husband #3 in a suit but with a lively-coloured shirt. We had four guests, and went for lunch in the pub afterwards!

Very friendly and helpful at my local registry office.
There are two marriage rooms one small then the main room.
Small room booked but on the day upgraded to the main one
Not a first meeting at the ceremony as such as you are both taken to fill in some paperwork first.
However once everyone was in place i did walk in to "Here comes the bride" on the arm of my dad so that felt nice to do that.
Mendelssohns wedding march at the end and a short classical piece during the service ,so all non religious.
The registrar borrowed my phone and took a couple of photos of us all together which was nice.
And yes the photo with the marriage register book was just a blank one they keep just for that.

All arranged at short notice ( health related) so went for a smart dress and white shawl which looked nice.
A small lunch reception afterwards at a local restaurant.