Aibu to be shocked at the cost of a registry office wedding?

[Icallbullshit3]

Hi all,

So my other half and I just want to get married. We had envisaged it to be just us, our parents (3) and two children ( age 1 and 2). We thought we would just get married in the registrars office for £50 plus £150 before hand for the notice of marriage... Except they say no we can only have two people with us on the office, so if that's what we want we have to pay £350 for the ceremony room. So that'll be a jump from £200 to £500 adding on the cost of the notice of intent to marry.

Little bit gobsmacked at the jump in price for a wedding at 10am on a Tuesday. And also a little bit sad.

I guess its entirely the room hire then. You may as well have 2 dozen people in that case.

Personally I would bring one parent from each side as witnesses if you can, leave the other outside babysitting and then all of you go for a splendid meal somewhere lovely and save the £300.

There must be some other venue?

Some hotels let you marry in a room and the registra comes to you

Google alternative wedding venues

It's a room size thing - the registrar's office is presumably just that, an office with just enough room for the registrar, you and two witnesses (which is what we did, for minimal cost). You're paying for a bigger room if you want more people. Can you do it with just the two of you and your witnesses and then join everyone else for a party?

You could try a different district, they may offer different options.

Or choose a different registry office? You don't have to use your local one - we didn't - just do the notice to marry stuff there and actually get married elsewhere,

The registry office that we got married offered you two different rooms. Once cost £50, the other £200. The first one could have 6 people in, the other about 20.

We went with the £50 room, so about £120 all in.

Might be worth seeing if there is another registry office in the next town that offers something like this.

YANBU, it's gone up loads, there are wild differences in the cost across the country and it was way way more expensive than we'd expected!

My DB had a registry office do earlier this year, gorgeous room, plenty of people, chandeliers, access to a beautiful garden afterwards for photos, cost £100.

We had ours a few weeks later, different county, cost about £400 more, far fewer people, no chandeliers!

I have no idea why it's gone up so much. People I know who did it in our local country 4 or 5 years ago spent £100 and it's ballooned since then.

Having it in another venue and having the registrar come to you is going to be even more, especially on a weekend.

I agree you should find a nice registry office somewhere else in the country, have a night away if you can! All the local county websites show the prices, which are cheapest mid week during office hours, then more on a Friday, much more on a weekend, and shit loads after 7pm.

you can get married without additional hassle at any regustry office in the county. We chose a room for 10 people (for us, 2 witnesses and our 3 kids last year. I felt no need to add any other people)

Try a different office. Ours is 70 for notice to marry and 160 for weekdays and 260 for Saturday

What! When I got married in the RO, it was in the wedding room which took 70 guests and it was £97! Ok going back few years but it was £30 each to announce the bans and £37 for the venue. This was a Saturday wedding. I cannot believe how much it's gone up by. There was never a discussion about different rooms or a small one for a couple of witnesses.

I'd say a witness each and lovely meal after.

id say try another office, or a local hotel/venue, prices vary to ridiculous proportion

I live in Glasgow and we were almost £400 for a room that held 35 people. That was 2 years ago.

And £120 for the notice to marry, if my memory serves me correctly.

YANBU OP

Get married legally in the office for cheap with two witnesses (1 parent each) then go with your guests to a park or a nice private room in a restaurant, or your garden etc and say your vows in a tiny, intimate ceremony with the people you love.

I got married in June, it was £50 for the wedding and £70 (in total) for Notice.

Just pick a different Reg office, plenty about.

Shop around! the Register Office I work in charges £250 for the main ceremony room (holds 50 guests), but you can get married at any register office you choose. If you're both EU citizens, the notice of marriage fee is £35 per person in England & Wales.

I wouldn't have presumed I'd be able to fit three more people than necessary into the registrars office. There's no reason why it would hold more than the parties, the registrar and two witnesses. However that's a pretty steep markup for the room hire at 10am on a Tuesday.

Have you discussed it with your Parents and how are they fixed financially?

I'd pay £300 to see my DDs get married, it wouldn't mean that I'd interfere in any way.

Shop around! the Register Office I work in charges £250 for the main ceremony room (holds 50 guests), but you can get married at any register office you choose. If you're both EU citizens, the notice of marriage fee is £35 per person in England & Wales.

Personally I would bring one parent from each side as witnesses if you can, leave the other outside babysitting

You'd leave one of three parents alone outside while their kids wedding was in the next room? Wow thats harsh. How would you choose? Flip a coin? See who cries more at the thought of missing it?

When I got married we paid £70 for notice and £50 for the ceremony, including a room which held up to 12 guests (we only had 2 witnesses plus DS) and a certificate.
I guess it depends on the venue/council.

I agree with others do contact a few registry offices for prices the do vary.

I got married in one some 15 years ago and I can't remember the price tbh sorry, but I've just been online to see the price my local one and it says Monday to Thursday wedding for the ceremony room £436, Notice £35 each, booking fee non refundable £55 CHRIST THATS EXPENSIVE!

Go to Wiltshire! £120 for a midweek ceremony (not including the cost of notices) with room for up to 40 people. For the statutory basic ceremony with only 2 guests they charge £46. I second the advice to shop around.

The main register office for each county or district has a statutory obligation to offer a basic ceremony in the registrar's office for bride, groom and 2 witnesses. The cost is always £46 plus £4 for the marriage certificate. Although councils are legally obliged to offer this, many will not advertise it widely and will have restrictions about when the ceremony can take place (not usually on a Saturday).