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Original poster

Registry office wedding experiences

40 replies

Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 15:22

We want to go to our local registry office and have a very low key wedding. Well really we don’t want the wedding just the legal bit. Has anyone done this and regretted it or felt it was the best thing?

We have family & friends all over the country/in other countries and we’d want to do a big celebration at some point but we want to get married (the legal bit) sooner rather than later. It also means we probably would have witnesses who weren’t family or friends- how have people gone about this?

OP posts:
AGoodDayToDie · 14/02/2025 15:23

we did this with just 2 witnesses, no regrets, I do not like a fuss

Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 14/02/2025 15:26

We booked a statutory ceremony (think most registry offices only offer these midweek/cerrain days) and you are allowed the two of you getting married and 2 witnesses that is it. It is usually also not in the main room for weddings (although we dropped lucky and they did ours in the proper ceremony room which we didn't expect) you still have to give the minimum notice (I think it was 6 weeks) and may have to go to a different registry office to show all your paperwork in advance

2 close friends as witnesses. Told family later either face to face where possible or video call. Absolutely the way we wanted it and no regrets whatsoever

You can have a reception / party / celebration with family and friends any time

Original poster
Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 15:27

AGoodDayToDie · 14/02/2025 15:23

we did this with just 2 witnesses, no regrets, I do not like a fuss

I don’t either- and I just want the marriage. Just a little worried we will regret not having pictures of the special day. Did you get pictures?

OP posts:
AGoodDayToDie · 14/02/2025 15:28

yes just a few that one of the witness took

Original poster
Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 15:28

Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 14/02/2025 15:26

We booked a statutory ceremony (think most registry offices only offer these midweek/cerrain days) and you are allowed the two of you getting married and 2 witnesses that is it. It is usually also not in the main room for weddings (although we dropped lucky and they did ours in the proper ceremony room which we didn't expect) you still have to give the minimum notice (I think it was 6 weeks) and may have to go to a different registry office to show all your paperwork in advance

2 close friends as witnesses. Told family later either face to face where possible or video call. Absolutely the way we wanted it and no regrets whatsoever

You can have a reception / party / celebration with family and friends any time

Edited

Did you get dressed up or just turned up in what you’d usually wear day to day? Did you get photographs?

OP posts:
BigDahliaFan · 14/02/2025 15:29

I've been the witness for friends who did this. It was because we were abroad working. It was a lovely day, we dressed up and took photos and went for a nice meal afterwards and then they headed off to a hotel. They then did the whole thing again back in their home country a few months later and had a big party.

afromom · 14/02/2025 15:31

Exh and I got married in a registry office, but it was a lovely old building and we did have 40 guests. There was a really pretty garden off the ceremony room for photos too, so it felt more like a 'venue' wedding. I guess we lucked out with our local one - it's changed now to an office building.

My DB and SIL got married in a registry office too - theirs was a 1950s style office building and the room was very plain with a simple ceremony. Just myself and my parents were present. Despite the rather gloomy room it was a lovely ceremony and very intimate with just the 5 of us, we then went to a country hotel and had a lovely lunch together afterwards which was really nice. They had a ceremony and party for friends and family a year later in LA where SIL is from, so I guess the registry office bit filled the legal part for them with the party afterwards being the main celebration.

If DP and I ever get married I plan on going to a registry office and doing a meal afterward with immediate family, we've both had the bigger weddings before and are not particularly party animals so a nice small ceremony followed by a lovely meal would suit us.

Madickenxx · 14/02/2025 15:32

We did and loved it. Just had my 2 adult kids as witnesses and absolutely zero regrets. I've never wanted a big wedding and my first one was abroad on the beach and DH had already had a big wedding and found it quite stressful so this suited us. We then had lunch at a local restaurant and went home to pack for our holiday the next day (not the honeymoon, just a holiday we'd booked before we got the date for the ceremony). We celebrated with friends and family afterwards in smaller groups which was also lovely.

Madickenxx · 14/02/2025 15:33

Oh and we did get dressed up but I changed my mind on the day and didn't wear the dress I'd bought and just wore my favourite summer dress and some sandals. DH wore a suit because he wanted to. 😊

Celeryedition · 14/02/2025 15:33

We did it on NYE with a handful of guests. Parents and adult children only. No formal pictures, no white dress, just a posh lunch afterwards. No regrets and would do it again.

I treated myself to a lovely wool coat, cashmere jumper, nice shoes, items that were more expensive than usual but not wedding specific items.

Wishboneswishes · 14/02/2025 15:37

We did this. Invited our best friends only, we didn’t tell anyone else. Took the kids too! We went for a lovely lunch after and our friends had our kids overnight so we stayed in a hotel. I did have a lovely dress and a bouquet as I love flowers! We took a few photos and it’s nice to look back on them. We rang our parents the next day. They were happy for us as they knew we were not going to have a big wedding. We had a big party at home a few months later.

Justhereforthechristmasthreads · 14/02/2025 15:39

Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 15:28

Did you get dressed up or just turned up in what you’d usually wear day to day? Did you get photographs?

Show quote history

We dressed up but not full wedding dress and suit.

We have some photos of the day, taken by the witnesses (the officials doing the ceremony also took some for us of the 4 of us).

mazylou · 14/02/2025 15:47

We did this last week: tiny midweek ceremony with two wonderful friends, my daughter and her partner. My daughter did the photos, we dressed up, had a magnum of champagne and lunch at a nice local restaurant. We'd had a joint 60th in September, so we didn't want a big deal - it was about us and people we love being with us for the day.

The celebrant and registrar were lovely, warm people, and despite the fact that it was the legal minimum, it still felt incredibly special. We'd had rings made for us, and we are so happy.

Hoppinggreen · 14/02/2025 15:50

I was lucky enough to be a witness at a MN wedding a few years ago at a Registry office.
It was lovely

LoserWinner · 14/02/2025 15:51

My son married legally in a registry office with just me and his sister as witnesses. We all wore casual clothes - jeans and tops, mostly. We took a few pics on our phones, then went out for a meal. It was lovely.

There was a big church do a couple of weeks later with all the usual pzazz. It had to be done that way because it was a private chapel that didn’t have a licence to do weddings.

Gumbo · 14/02/2025 15:52

We did this, just with a couple of witnesses. I went out and bought a lovely (not white or bride-looking) dress the day before, DH bought a new suit and tie. We got a few photos taken and I don't regret a moment of how we did it.

If you're worried about not having hundreds of photos, ask people who've been married for a while how often they spend time pouring over their expensive wedding albums...

Goatblu · 14/02/2025 15:55

Yep. Best thing ever. Registry office with 2 of OH's work colleagues acting as witnesses (I'd never met them before).

It was lovely and unfussy - exactly as we wanted. We wanted to be married legally rather than have a 'wedding' as we'd both been married previously.

Needmorelego · 14/02/2025 15:58

We did Registry Office.
Was originally going to just have the 2 witnesses (plus our toddler) but circumstances change so we invented a few other family members. Probably about 16 people in total.
I wore a "nice dress from Debenhams" because my mum told me too.
We only did the basic legal phrases - no vows.
We posed for a few photos but I wouldn't have cared if we didn't. Went back to my sister in laws for a buffet - I wouldn't have cared if that hadn't happened either.
I basically did those few things because my husband, mother in law, my mum etc wanted it.
I would have just been happy to sign some paperwork 😂

DPotter · 14/02/2025 16:02

We did.

No music, just immediate family, no fancy clothes, no additional vows. We said just 2 words each - I Will. The 2 registrars were lovely. I wasn't planning to have flowers but my DSis (knowing me as she does) bought a lovely bunch of sunflowers at the station.
We'd booked a restaurant for lunch after. Absolutely simple, absolutely us.

It was actually more moving than I thought it would be - been together for forever and just wanted to make things simpler for pensions, wills etc.

Do it.

Needmorelego · 14/02/2025 16:17

Sorry I meant "invited" more family members - not "invented" them.
They are real 😂

Original poster
Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 16:20

Needmorelego · 14/02/2025 16:17

Sorry I meant "invited" more family members - not "invented" them.
They are real 😂

I saw this and wondered 😂😂😂

OP posts:
Original poster
Weddingname457 · 14/02/2025 16:21

Thank you everyone! I’m thinking summer dress, me & my partner and maybe asking some witnesses from the street! Then going away for a couple of days- celebrate with family later in the year!

OP posts:
ClockingOffers · 14/02/2025 16:25

We did a low key simple Registry office ceremony. We invited our adult children and partners and one of the partners decided to take a few pictures, which was nice but we've never bothered getting them printed as it was just another day to us.

Zero regrets and we're still happily married.

Sidebeforeself · 14/02/2025 16:25

In my opinion registry office weddings are the nicest ( depending on the venue). They feel formal enough to give the ceremony an official feeling , but you can add your own style within reason. I hate hotel /castle weddings..just feel so corporate. And church weddings where you know the bride and groom aren’t at all religious…!

2orangey · 14/02/2025 16:32

Had a low-key registry office wedding a few years ago.

Local registry office (which happens to be in a historic building with lovely wood panelled walls and stained glass - we wouldn't have been bothered if it was a more basic building, it was nice in the photos though). The registry office people were so lovely. Just the basic ceremony with no frills or extras but it still felt meaningful.

Only guests were the 2 witnesses, the photographer and driver (we paid for an 'elopement' package - so glad we did as we have some lovely photos of the ceremony and afterwards in a local park).

Changed into jeans and had a pub meal, then spent the night at a local B and B.
I bought a bouquet of flowers from a local florist the day before so I'd have something to hold. Oh and we bought some gluten-free carrot cake and champagne from Aldi to help us celebrate together.

We decided against family/friends being there. We had some meals out with them to celebrate at later dates.