This page covers planning your ceremony itself.
You can find answers to questions about arrival, departure and time spent at the Town Hall (apart from during the ceremony) by visiting this page.
Photo credit: Joasis Photography
Please find below our most frequently asked questions about Room 99 or the Canonbury Suite weekday standard ceremonies
If you have a question which is not on this list, please email registrars@islington.gov.uk and we will try our best to answer it.
What information do we need to know about having our ceremony on a weekday?
As standard, ceremonies in Room 99 and the Canonbury Suite on weekdays are are shorter, simple ceremony options, offered for couples who would prefer this kind of ceremony.
There is no facility to conduct separate interviews in Room 99 or the Canonbury Suite for standard ceremonies, and if you do not wish to see each other prior to the ceremony, or if you want to personalise your ceremony, you will need to book one of our other rooms.
Alternatively, it may be possible for you to pay an additional fee to extend your ceremony on a Friday or Saturday to include full personalisation including separate interviews, depending on the ceremonies booked after yours. The additional fee will be the cost of another ceremony slot on the date you have chosen. If you are interested in this option, please email registrars@islington.gov.uk to enquire about making an enhanced ceremony booking, or amending your existing booking to an enhanced ceremony. Friday and Saturday enhanced ceremonies can only be booked by email request, not online.
We are not able to offer ceremony co-ordination meetings for any weekday ceremonies.
What will our ceremony content be on a weekday?
You can see the scripts we use by clicking on the links below, although some registrars may vary this script slightly:
On weekdays, personalisation of the content of the ceremony is not offered for standard ceremonies in Room 99 or the Canonbury Suite, so the ceremony will be shorter and simple.
No readings, entrances to the room, personal vows, music or other personalised elements can be accommodated, other than the exchange of rings.
You will be emailed a link to a page with a form to fill in at least a month before your ceremony, which will go through the details for your specific date.
We are having a civil partnership; do we need to have a ceremony?
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.
Many couples like to have a ceremony and make promises to each other as a public pledge of their love and commitment, even though it is not a legal requirement. You will need to book a ceremony room and timeslot for the civil partnership paperwork to be done whether you are choosing to have a ceremony or not.
You will be emailed a link to a page with a form to fill in at least a month before your ceremony, which will go through the details for your specific date, and you can list the choice you have made.
We are having another blessing/ceremony abroad/celebration next year so we want a very low-key ceremony with just the minimum amount of fuss. Is that OK?
That is fine. Although we would encourage you to celebrate both ceremony days in these circumstances, standard ceremonies are always very simple.
What is the seating plan for Room 99?
What is the seating plan for the Canonbury Suite?
Do we have to memorise any of the legal words?
During the marriage ceremony you will make two legal declarations before your witnesses, guests and the registrars. You will declare your freedom to marry one another, and then accept one another as husband or wife.
For civil partnership couples the words themselves are not legally binding, but will be verbal promises made to each other.
These words do not need to be memorised as you will repeat them, a few at a time, after the registrar.
Do we need to give each other rings?
Not at all. 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.
What happens at the end of the ceremony?
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.