In order to book this venue, please contact the venue separately.
As we approach your special day, we would like to give you some information about how your ceremony will run and take some details about your plans and choices.
Please read all the information on this webpage and complete the form at the end at least a month before your ceremony.
You may want to bookmark this page to refer to again later.
We ask that you both arrive with your guests 15 minutes before the ceremony start time. Consideration needs to be given to the timely start of all events, and if you arrive more than 10 minutes late, unfortunately your ceremony will not be able to take place and you will have to rebook and incur rescheduling fees. For statutory ceremonies, you will need to see each other before the ceremony begins.
Chauffeured cars, taxis and buses can stop outside the building to drop off couples or guests, but we don’t have general parking available at the Town Hall, so we advise your guests to arrive by public transport.
All ceremony areas in the Town Hall can be accessed by ramps or lifts for step free access. If you or any of your guests have a disability, you will need to click here to complete a Personal Emergency Evacuation Form before the ceremony. Guide dogs and other trained assistance animals are welcomed, but pets are not permitted. Your animal should wear their vest to show that they are a trained assistance animal and not just your pet. We have limited special access parking spaces available on the Town Hall forecourt, and these need to be booked well in advance by emailing securitytownhall@islington.gov.uk
The statutory room is an intimate room which can only hold:
Children and babies cannot be accommodated in this room, as you can only bring two adult witnesses to your ceremony. If your guests exceed the number allowed in the room, then some of them will be asked to remain outside the building.
At the entrance of the building, our team will greet you and confirm the ceremony you are attending. We will show your guests to a waiting room and show you and your partner to the statutory room for your pre-ceremony interview.
Before the ceremony, you and your partner will need to check the details together to go on the marriage or civil partnership certificate. Our registrars will ask you the same questions you were asked when you gave notice, for example, your full name and date of birth etc. This is to make sure that the details on the legal record of your marriage/civil partnership are correct and up to date on the day of your ceremony. This takes 10-15 minutes and is why we ask you to arrive a little bit earlier than your ceremony start time. We will then ask you to visually check the paperwork to make sure it is correct.
You do not need to bring any identification to this interview unless our team have specifically advised you to because of your individual circumstances.
Following the interview, we will bring your guests to the room ready for the ceremony to start.
Our registrars will welcome you and your guests, and begin the ceremony. The whole ceremony will need to be legally conducted by one of our registrars.
Ceremonies in the statutory room are the shortest, simplest ceremonies possible, offered for couples who would prefer this kind of ceremony, so no readings, choice of script, entrances to the room, personal vows, music or other personalised elements can be accommodated, other than the exchange of rings.
Please click on the links below to see the ceremony script:
Our registrars will use a similar script to this, although some may change the wording slightly. The words you say do not need to be memorised as you will repeat them, a few at a time, after the registrar.
As civil partnership law is different from marriage law, there are no legal words you need to say, so if you would prefer to simply sign the paperwork with your witnesses you can.
The ceremony takes around 20 minutes to complete, including the signing of the paperwork.
The exchanging of rings is a traditional part of a ceremony rather than a legal requirement. Some couples choose to exchange only one ring, some choose a different token personal to themselves, and others choose not to include this part of the ceremony at all.
Your two witnesses will sign to say they have witnessed the ceremony/signing. The witnesses can be friends/family members, as long as they speak good English and are an adult. Our staff are not able to act as witnesses.
The witnesses do not have to bring any documents to the ceremony.
If either you or your partner requires an interpreter, that person must also act as one of your two witnesses.
At the end you will be announced as husband/wife and husband/wife, or as civil partners, and will sign the marriage or civil partnership schedule, the legal record of your union, with your witnesses.
Your guests will then be invited to congratulate you both as you leave the room together, and then they will follow you.
You can have some photographs on the beautiful steps outside. We allow eco-friendly options like biodegradable confetti, rose petals, bubbles and sparklers outside the Town Hall, but not inside. Rice is not permitted as it poses health and safety risks with the stairs in inclement weather and attracts pigeons.
While there is no parking on Upper Street outside the Town Hall, your booked transport (for example buses or taxis) will be allowed to stop there long enough for you and your guests to get on.
The details of your ceremony must be entered onto a computer system after the ceremony, so we can’t give you the certificate at the end of the ceremony.
You will be asked on your ceremony day if you want the certificate to be posted to you, or if you would prefer us to call you when it’s ready so you can collect it from our office.
Please allow up to three weeks to receive your marriage/civil partnership certificate after the ceremony.
