Licensed venues
All ceremonies must take place in a building or structure to that has a licence for marriages and civil partnerships.
Civil marriage and civil partnership ceremonies
Your ceremony booking is accepted on the condition that:
- no legal impediment to the marriage or civil partnership exists and legal preliminaries are completed within statutory time limits
- any foreign divorce/dissolution papers are accepted by the registrar general where applicable
- a booking fee is paid
The balance of ceremony fees is payable either at the time of booking or by 8 weeks prior to the date of the ceremony, whichever is the nearer date to the day of the ceremony. Fees are subject to change on 1 January each year. You will be required to pay the fee that is applicable for the date of your ceremony.
Booking confirmation fees
Booking confirmation fees are payable at the time of booking and are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Cancellation of bookings by us
Your ceremony may be cancelled by us if:
- the total fees have not been paid
- legal preliminaries have not or cannot be completed
We reserve the right to cancel your appointment if you arrive more than 5 minutes late.
We reserve the right to cancel your appointment if the number of wedding guests exceeds the maximum permitted number for the room booked.
If you don’t bring the right documents the registration officer may not be able to undertake the relevant legal requirements needed for the ceremony and you may need to re-book and pay for another appointment.
Cancellation of bookings by you
If you have to cancel a ceremony you’ll need to notify us in writing.
If you have already paid the full amount for the ceremony and it is:
- more than 2 calendar months before the ceremony date you will receive a full refund of the balance fee (excluding non-refundable reservation/booking fees)
- between 1 calendar month and 2 calendar months before the ceremony date you will receive 50% refund of the balance fee (excluding non-refundable reservation/booking fees)
- less than 1 calendar month before the ceremony date (or failure to cancel), there will be no refund
Staff
We will allocate staff to attend your ceremony and reserves the right to substitute other experienced and qualified staff in case of sickness or other unforeseen circumstances on the day.
Room capacity
For fire safety and comfort, the number of guests must not exceed the capacity of the room, which is stipulated in the licence of the venue (38 for the main ceremony room, 6 for the small ceremony room and 2 for the Registrars Office). Additional guests will be excluded from the ceremony.
Timing
The couple and witnesses must arrive at the venue 15 minutes before the specified service begins to enable the registrar to conduct the necessary legal preliminaries
The registrars conduct a number of ceremonies per day and is unable to delay your ceremony.
You and your guests must arrive at the venue promptly to enable the ceremony to start on time. The registrar, at their discretion, may commence the ceremony without all the guests present.
Failure to commence the ceremony on time could impact on the amount of time available for the ceremony and could mean reductions to content and timings The allocated time per ceremony is 30 minutes in total.
Your ceremony may have to be postponed if it cannot be completed within 30 minutes of the scheduled start time of the ceremony and the delay is not our fault. In these circumstances the registrar will advise if the ceremony can be completed on that day.
If the ceremony is postponed to later on in the scheduled day and is not due us, you may be required to pay an additional fee for costs incurred by us.
If the ceremony cannot proceed on the scheduled date due to no fault of the of us, you will be required to pay the registrar’s attendance fee for the new date and possibly the cost to obtain fresh, legal notices. The booking fee will not be refunded.
Animals
Apart from trained guide/hearing dogs, animals (including pets) are not allowed to be present or take part in any part of a ceremony.
Liability
We will not accept liability for:
- the failure of any music system provided by the venue, you or a third party
- the failure of any CD provided by the venue, you or a third party
- any delay or loss caused by your late or non-arrival
- any loss caused by a request from you or your representatives to delay the ceremony
- any loss or compensation where a ceremony is stopped from proceeding because (a) it would be void if it went ahead, (b) an offence under the Marriage Act or Civil Partnership Act would be committed, c) it would be against the public interest
- any decision to permit a delay the ceremony is at our discretion
General
In the event of a force majeure, we will endeavour to perform your ceremony on your chosen day. We strongly recommend that you take out ceremony insurance to cover losses or expenses incurred in the case of events outside our control.
Any reference to working days does not include Saturday, Sunday, bank or public holidays.
Approval of the venue is granted only in connection with the provision of ceremonies.
We cannot accept liability for the failure or neglect on behalf of the venue, of any agreement between you and the venue for the use or provision of any services and/or facilities.
Code of conduct for Woodlands House
- smoking and/or the use of vaping devices is not permitted at any point during any ceremony or on the premises
- the consumption of food or alcohol is not permitted anywhere on the premises
- anyone obviously under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be asked to leave a ceremony and/or the premises
- recordings may not be made anywhere within the building, except during civil marriage/civil partnership, renewal of vows, naming ceremonies and post-event celebrations as agreed by staff
- staff reserve the right to exclude visitors and guests from the premises or to withdraw a service from those who, in their judgement, behave in a rude, uncooperative or disruptive manner
Notice of marriage/Civil partnership
All Weddings and Civil Partnerships are dependant of you giving notice of marriage within the appropriate timescale required by law.
- If you are more than 5 minutes late for your appointment for any reason, you will have to rebook and repay
- The fee for completing a notice of marriage or civil partnership is £35 per person (or £47 per person if you are subject to immigration control)
- Consideration by superintendent registrar of a divorce/civil partnership dissolution obtained outside of the British Isles is £50 per person
- Consideration by a registrar general of divorce/civil partnership dissolution obtained outside of the British Isles is £75 per person
- An additional fee of £25 per person is payable for an emergency notice of Marriage/Civil Partnership appointment and is subject to availability
- All fees are non-transferable and non-refundable