Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Weddings

Chat to other Mumsnetters on our Wedding forum.

Original poster

Registry office

24 replies

LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 11:40

What do you think to registry ffice weddings?
I've always thought I'd have the beautiful venue and the big party but since having our little girl, our priorities have changed and we just want to be married. We still want a nice day with everyone we want there and I still want to wear a proper wedding dress and have a proper reception etc.
Can registry office weddings still be like that?

OP posts:
PritiPatelsMaker · 30/12/2022 11:44

We got married at a Registry Office and I definitely had a beautiful dress and a lovely reception. Not huge but I never wanted to whole sit down meal and speeches type of wedding.

Had a very relaxed day and it was fabulous. Think the party finally wrapped up around 3 am.

Like you, we had different priorities Wink

AlphaAlpha · 30/12/2022 11:46

Of course they can!
We had a beautiful central London registry office, made for stunning photos inside and out. We then had a venue booked nearby, again central London so easy transport options or the option to stay.
Worked well instead of being tied to a far out venue where you have to stay.
A wedding is what you make it, not what insta dictates.

Original poster
LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 11:49

@PritiPatelsMaker this is good to hear. I just want a nice relaxed day with everyone we love there. Not bothered about the fancy meal but still want to feel like a bride etc. Thanks!

What kind of reception venue did you have if you don't mind me asking?

OP posts:
Original poster
LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 11:51

@AlphaAlpha sounds lovely. I'll look into it more then!

OP posts:
PritiPatelsMaker · 30/12/2022 12:03

A wedding is what you make it, not what insta dictates

Exactly. And it doesn't matter if you spend £500 or £50,000, you still have the same result, you're still married Wink

PritiPatelsMaker · 30/12/2022 12:04

What kind of reception venue did you have if you don't mind me asking?

The garden! It was a bit of work getting it all sorted but so glad we did!

KangarooKenny · 30/12/2022 12:06

Our registry office is nice. Old wooden panelling inside, and some lovely steps to take photos on after.

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 30/12/2022 12:10

We had a register office wedding and I wore a traditional dress - perfectly acceptable. We had the reception straight afterwards at a nice old pub/hotel nearby.

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 30/12/2022 12:12

Yes. I put off getting married in a registry office because of those reasons but eventually did it and it was lovely. I wore a long white dress. We had some nice pictures and we had a party after. It was a good, chilled day.

LlynTegid · 30/12/2022 12:12

I have a certain respect and admiration for people who marry in a registry office with only a few witnesses. People who are honest about the fact they are of little or no religious faith (in many cases), people for whom it is about the commitment not some grand show off/event, to think of two things.

I do think that they can be a bit spartan though, hence for those who want something a bit more colourful was glad that the law allows other non-religious venues.

PritiPatelsMaker · 30/12/2022 12:15

Our registry office is nice. Old wooden panelling inside, and some lovely steps to take photos on after

Ours has a lovely garden for photos, which was perfect Wink

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 30/12/2022 12:16

People who are honest about the fact they are of little or no religious faith (in many cases)

Yes - I am an agnostic, I certainly didn't want to get into lying to some vicar and fronting up at church services, for the sake of a church wedding which would add nothing from my point of view except a more traditional backdrop to the ceremony.

katmarie · 30/12/2022 12:21

We didn't have a registry office wedding, the registrar performed the ceremony at our venue, so we had the whole day in one place. They set it up as a ceremony in the morning, then after we signed the register and went to do photos, drinks etc, they turned it around for the meal etc. Still wore the big white dress etc, and it was a truly wonderful day. Worked well for us, so might be worth looking at an all in one venue.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 30/12/2022 12:23

We had a lovely registry office wedding. We got married 23 yeses ago, and didn't want a church wedding, but the business of civil wedding venues hadn't yet evolved in a big way. Our nearest town was Bakewell at the time. Nice old stone market town. Town hall was nice old stone building, panelling etc. I had a long silk evening dress, DH had a new suit, he and his best man wore tied to match my dress. Then we walked 100m or so to a restaurant where we had the reception, and did photos in the neighbouring park. At the end of the day, we stayed at the only big hotel in Bakewell, which was fine then, buti have since seen it on a "nightmare hotels" type C5 show.

Allsnotwell · 30/12/2022 12:25

Why not afternoon tea instead? Find a large conservatory

gogohmm · 30/12/2022 12:25

Most registry offices have a choice of rooms, different sizes (and prices) a nice meal afterwards or find a pub with a room above

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 30/12/2022 12:25

Posted too soon.

We had the biggest room in Bakewell town hall - fitted 50ish people, which we filled.

Soubriquet · 30/12/2022 12:26

I got married at a registry office. I still had the big white dress. Bridesmaids and all the stuff that goes with the ceremony.

It was a hell of a lot cheaper than a church

35965a · 30/12/2022 12:26

There are loads of beautiful registry office buildings and grounds, so they can make for gorgeous weddings.

AlphaAlpha · 30/12/2022 12:50

My husband is ex military, so we had a military venue for our reception, plenty in London.
We also looked at city pubs - generally quiet or closed at weekends so you can hire out the lot.
The Battersea Barge was also on our list.

UsingChangeofName · 30/12/2022 12:58

Of course they can.

I think it is confusing having the word 'office' in the name - it conjures up images of filing cabinets and cluttered desks with manky mugs and someone's cardigan left over the back of a chair.
Registry offices generally are not like that Smile
There are some very lovely ones around.

Original poster
LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 13:09

@katmarie did you find this to be more expensive? This is what we originally wanted and we have looked into some gorgeous venues to spend the whole day at and the price just seems crazy for room hire and then for the registrar to come out etc. The appeal of a registry office, for me, is the price!

OP posts:
Original poster
LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 13:14

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads I know Bakewell pretty well - I'm from the crap part of Derbyshire (ie a depressing market town on the Notts/Derby border!)

Sounds like you made a good day of it. Definitely leaning more towards something like this now

OP posts:
katmarie · 03/01/2023 10:46

LittleCactus · 30/12/2022 13:09

@katmarie did you find this to be more expensive? This is what we originally wanted and we have looked into some gorgeous venues to spend the whole day at and the price just seems crazy for room hire and then for the registrar to come out etc. The appeal of a registry office, for me, is the price!

It was more expensive than some other options we looked at, but some of the venues we viewed were more expensive just for the reception, so we would still have had to pay for the registrar/ceremony. We paid about 450 for the registrar to come to us (5 years ago), a ceremony at the reg office on the same day would have been about £400, so not a huge difference in that cost. We would have had to pay for cars from the reg office to the reception, so it actually worked out cheaper having it all on site.

The venue we chose included the room for the ceremony as part of the overall package. If we'd been going to the local church for our ceremony for example, the price for the reception would still have been the same, as they booked the room for the whole day for a wedding either way.

Looking at our local reg office though there is a huge difference between weekday and weekend wedding costs. We could have had our ceremony at the reg office on a Monday for half what we paid to do it on a weekend. So that might be a way to save costs.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread