This information is for the proprietor or trustee of a non-religious venue in Islington or the City of London (the ‘square mile’) seeking to apply to hold marriage and civil partnership ceremonies.
There are statutory requirements and local conditions applied to these licences. Please read all the guidance and make sure that your premises comply before you apply for a licence.
The process for obtaining a marriage licence is:
- You apply using one of the application forms below, and pay the fee:
- £1827 for a 5 year new or renewed licence
£100 to change the name of a venue or other change not requiring inspection (Islington or City of London venues)
£100 to add new rooms/areas to your licence (Islington venues only)
£729 to add new rooms/areas to your licence (City of London venues only). - We will check through your application and ensure we have all the information we need.
- We will publish a legal notice on this page for 21 days for any objections there could be to your venue being granted a licence.
- We will arrange for your venue to be inspected by Islington or City of London surveyors to check it meets all the conditions of licence.
- Once the surveyors are satisfied that the conditions have been met, we will arrange for the Superintendent Registrar to visit the venue to deliver the completed licence and discuss working together to deliver ceremonies. After this meeting, couples can book our registrars to attend ceremonies at your venue, under the conditions of the licence.
Please follow the links below to access advice for your venue, depending on which borough it is in:
- Legal conditions to be met (Islington and City of London venues)
- Health and safety conditions to be met (for Islington venues)
- Health and safety conditions to be met (for City of London venues)
Please follow the links below to access further advice and forms, which are relevant to venues in Islington or City of London:
- Application form for a ceremonies licence
- Renewal form for a ceremonies licence
- Variation form for changing an existing licence
- Payment form for the ceremonies licence application fee
- Currently published applications for licences
- Further information on outdoor ceremonies from the General Register Office