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Original poster

Register office wedding with 2 witnesses

59 replies

staffieslobber · 10/09/2021 21:51

No guests, no music, no readings etc.

Anyone had one? What was it like? Do you regret it (the wedding, not the marriage!)?

Did you wear a wedding dress? Exchange rings? Get photos? Do any of the traditional stuff? And did you take your husband's name? (I had kind of planned to, purely because his is nicer and goes better with our daughter's name (she has my surname currently) but now I can't decide Confused)

OP posts:
YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake · 10/09/2021 21:55

I did, just me dh and 2 random people from the registery office. I wore a dress, but not a wedding one, dh wore a suit and we exchanged rings but went for the quickest ceremony. 12 years on, no regrets.

elephantoverthehill · 10/09/2021 21:58

Lots of lovely stories on here where two people were grabbed off the street or MNetters volunteered.

QforCucumber · 10/09/2021 21:58

I have, it wasn't in this country but it was just dh and I. Witnesses who were a lady who worked there and a photographer. I wore a proper dress, we did vows and rings. I wanted it 'real' but we wanted it just us (family politics) there were some ornate buildings around so got some amazing outdoor photos. Do not regret it for a second.

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Weddings
TwinsandTrifle · 10/09/2021 22:01

Yep.

Famous registry office with two Chelsea pensioners as witnesses. I wore a pretty white dress that was more chic than bridal. Didn't have a bouquet. Didn't sort our rings in time so not on the day. Whole thing was about £300 I think.

Both of us had big weddings before, so no desire for that at all. But there was something quite special about standing where some serious rock and roll icons said "I do".

Whilst it hadn't crossed my mind before, the history of the place really had a big effect. It felt so cool and glamorous.

So my advice is it can be lovely, but I'd definitely pick a memorable venue rather than the registry office round the corner. That was my initial idea, I'm so glad DH suggested otherwise.

soapboxqueen · 10/09/2021 22:02

We had guests but immediate family only (parents and siblings)

No music
No readings
No dress
Yes rings but we never wear them
No photographer

Ceremony then home

Didn't change name initially but now we've both double barrelled

No regrets. Married almost 16 years.

Toddlerteaplease · 10/09/2021 22:05

I went to one as a witness after an appeal on mumsnet. It was lovely. It was about the marriage rather than the trimmings. Lovely couple.

LondonWhyEyeMan · 10/09/2021 22:05

Not me but my friend. They dropped the kids off at school and went for a nice brunch, they then got married with the grooms brother and his wife as witnesses (they didn’t really anyone else they were getting married). Home about 2ish for champagne and cake, picked the kids up at 3.30 and rang family at 4. She wore a lovely
Red dress, he wore chinos and a shirt. She says she has no regrets and saved a fortune!

SuperbLyrebird · 10/09/2021 22:05

Do either of you have parents you are close to?

suredsun · 10/09/2021 22:06

A friend did this and I was her witness. Groom's best friend was his. Did not tell their parents until afterwards. It was lovely! A simple white summer dress, a small posy of flowers and a bottle of champagne waiting on ice at a nearby pub afterwards. No photographer. Then we all went on our way.

FlutterShite · 10/09/2021 22:08

Yes! We each had a friend as a witness. The registrar took pictures and even shed a tear. We had music, on CDs, to start off the ceremony and to play while we were signing the book thing. Then we went off to a local restaurant for lunch with the witnesses, and that was that. Complex family situations on both sides meant it was simpler that way, and we loved it - so special and intimate.

Beachbabe1 · 10/09/2021 22:11

We are booked in for this wedding next May! Cannot wait! Stress free, not spending a fortune, chilled day and about US, not everyone else. Our plan is to drop the kids at school, get married, do photos on the beach and go for lunch 😊 Have told all the family who are happy for us whatever we do. My mum and dad are witnesses as DP family live too far away to come on the day. We have been together for 18 years and really don't want to spend alot!

ThankYouStavros · 10/09/2021 22:11

I did, no regrets

Blossomtoes · 10/09/2021 22:12

A guy I worked with once nipped out in his lunch hour, got married and went back to work. They did it purely for financial reasons and it seemed really cool to me.

FatAnkles · 10/09/2021 22:13

This would have been my idea of bliss. We would have invited a friend each to witness though.

But DM found out about our plans and made our day all so much bigger. It was a runaway train.

Do it. I will always regret not having it this way. It's the marriage and what happens after that counts, not the wedding day.

ElephantandGrasshopper · 10/09/2021 22:13

I did. We had two witnesses plus our two DC. I wore a dress that I loved but was definitely not a wedding dress. No rings. We took our witnesses out for pizza afterwards. Neither of us changed our surnames. No regrets at all.

Thurlow · 10/09/2021 22:14

Yep! Neighbours as witnesses so we didn’t offend people by picking from family and friends. We both wore jeans and a nice top, then went with our neighbours for a posh late breakfast at a lovely pub. We did have to say all the vows (I found out afterwards we could have skipped a lot of that!) and our neighbour could barely hide his laughter watching us do that Grin, but we didn’t exchange rings.

I loved it, wouldn’t change it for the world. Probably does help to say we only did it for the legal paperwork though!

SuperSleepyBaby · 10/09/2021 22:15

Yes, we did - no regrets. We had been together for years and years and have kids and had no interest at all in a wedding - we just wanted to be married for tax reasons etc.

I don’t like being the centre of attention and would just get stressed organising even a small wedding.

We just went in - Smart clothes but not very dressed up -and it was all done in about 5 minutes. We went for a meal after - nothing fancy - and were happy to have it done with.

Kintsugi16 · 10/09/2021 22:18

I absolutely, could not have got married without any of our living parents present.

Gotmyprincecharming · 10/09/2021 22:21

We did..15 years ago..no regrets...wouldnt change a thing

monarchoftheglen · 10/09/2021 22:34

We did this. Our hotel provided our witnesses for us. My only regret is not investing in a nicer dress.

Wildone16 · 10/09/2021 22:37

I did this 2 years ago and have no regrets.
We had a quiet ceremony, all in was myself and DH, our 2 children, 2 school mum friends, a friend snuck in to babysit our youngest and the registry official. We had 3 songs played throughout and we just dressed up for the day, took our own photos and I kept my own surname, our children have their dads it works for us.

Some of our family’s and friends were annoyed they weren’t there and still bring it up, we’re not overly upset about their feelings as our day was special to us and we loved the quiet and calmed day we had

CottageOnTheHill · 10/09/2021 22:48

We did! I got married in jeans and a t-shirt with flip flops on. The registrar sorted 2 witnesses for us. We both had huge weddings the first time around and we wanted ours to be simple and just us. We left straight afterwards and had our honeymoon in a cottage by Loch Leven in Glencoe.

Mumof3girlsandaboy · 10/09/2021 22:51

I did it 12 years ago.
Me
My husband
A married couple who was our witness
My 3 children who were under 6 years and the childminder
I wore a traditional dress and we used our own camera to take photos. 12 years on still happily married and changed my name the same month we got married.

DoncasterHombre · 10/09/2021 23:37

@CottageOnTheHill

We did! I got married in jeans and a t-shirt with flip flops on. The registrar sorted 2 witnesses for us. We both had huge weddings the first time around and we wanted ours to be simple and just us. We left straight afterwards and had our honeymoon in a cottage by Loch Leven in Glencoe.
@CottageOnTheHill

I like this! Jeans, t-shirt and flip flops and a couple of random witnesses.

I've never been married and if I ever do meet somebody I'd like to, it'll be a Vegas wedding. Can't seem to meet a lass who agrees to that though so reckon I'm staying single and unmarried. Hope you had a great day on yours Grin

QforCucumber · 11/09/2021 06:45

@DoncasterHombre , ours was Vegas!
It wasn't at all cheesy, it was absolutely perfect in every way.
I'd do it again a million times over.