After booking your ceremony, we will send you a confirmation email with a link to give you specific information to help you plan your day.
This page covers information that may help you decide if a ceremony at a licenced venue is right for you.
What is a licenced venue?
A licenced venue is a venue that has applied for, and been granted, a licence to hold civil marriages and civil partnerships on its premises, for example, a hotel, museum or livery hall.
At a licenced venue, you book the venue to hold your ceremony, and then book the local registrars to come and conduct the ceremony. We are the local registrars for any venue in the borough of Islington of the City of London (the ‘square mile’)
You can see a list of the licenced venues in Islington and City of London by clicking here.
What time will the registrars arrive at our venue?
We aim to arrive half an hour before the booked ceremony start time. We find that this is early enough to make sure that the ceremony can begin at the booked time.
When should we be ready to speak to the registrars/ arrive at the venue?
If you are seeing each other before the start of the ceremony, please both arrive/ be ready for interview at least 15 minutes before the ceremony start time.
If you don’t want to see each other before the start of the ceremony, we would advise that one partner arrives around 20 minutes before the ceremony start time, and the other partner about 10 minutes before. This way your ceremony should be able to start on time.
It is important that you are on time, as the registrars may have other ceremonies to attend after yours.
Can our pet come to the ceremony?
It will be up to your venue whether they permit pets. Our staff are happy to conduct ceremonies where well-behaved pets are present.
What personalisation can we add to our ceremony?
Ceremonies at licenced venues can add the following personalisation:
- a choice of four ceremony scripts (or the option to write your own script)
- up to three readings
- personal vows
- music at specific points in the ceremony
You will be emailed a link to a page with a form to fill in at least a month before your ceremony, where you can list the choices you have made.
Please note all that readings, wording and music must not be from religious texts, or contain religious messages.
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.
On the form we send you at least a month before the ceremony, you can let us know whether you would prefer a ceremony or a signing.
Can we use our own celebrant/ family member/ friend to conduct our ceremony?
The whole ceremony will need to be legally conducted by one of our registrars, though your friends and family can read poems etc.
Can we serve drinks in the room to celebrate after the ceremony?
Marriage and civil partnership law states that you can’t have drinks in the room until the ceremony has finished and the registrars have left, so if the venue has a licence and permits it, they can serve drinks once the registrars have left.
Do we need a rehearsal before the ceremony?
In our experience, there is no need for a rehearsal, and we do not offer rehearsals at Islington and London City.