Marriages and Civil Partnerships
- Getting married or forming a civil partnership
- Our venues
- The ceremony
- Certificates and schedules
- COVID-19
Getting married or forming a civil partnership
To get married or form a civil partnership in England or Wales you must*:
- choose your venue and check that it is available. You do not need to have a marriage or civil partnership in the area where you live
- give Notice of Marriage/Notice of Civil Partnership to a register office. Find out more about giving Notice
- have a marriage or civil partnership ceremony no sooner than 29 days after you gave Notice. For example, if you give Notice on the first day of the month you can have a ceremony from the 30th day of the month. Find out more about ceremonies and how to book
A ceremony or civil partnership signing must take place within one year of when Notice was given.
If you are having a ceremony outside England or Wales please visit the Marriage outside England and Wales including abroad page.
*Please note: If you are getting married in a Church of England (external link) or Church of Wales (external link) venue, please seek advice from your church. You do not normally need to give Notice for a Church of England or Church of Wales ceremony unless subject to immigration.
Our venues
There is a choice of venues in Haringey.
From 19 July 2021, in the Earlham Suite at George Meehan House:
- the Earlham Room seats up to 20 people (14 if you wish to social distance)
- the Woodside Room seats up 79 people (we suggest a maximum of 60 people to allow some of your guests to socially distance if they wish). It can accommodate 47 people at one-metre+ social distancing and 32 people at 2-metre social distancing
It will not be possible to social distance if rooms are full to capacity. Please speak to your guests, respect their wishes and set your upper guest limits so that those that wish to social distance to do so. Take into account that some people are more cautious than others – respect their wishes and needs.
Everyone is strongly encouraged to continue to wear a face covering unless exempt, and take a free lateral flow test the day before or on the day of the ceremony. Please visit our COVID-19 page for more information.
There is also a range of other venues, each venue has its own maximum guest numbers. Please visit our venues page for more details.
The ceremony
We are currently allowing the following at ceremonies:
- couples to play their own music when signing the Schedule document, this can be done using your own battery operated device and or via our Bluetooth stereo system
- walking down the aisle (with music including your own - see above)
- options for couples to take responsibility for social distancing and to adjust guest numbers (up to venue maximum limits) based on the preferences of their guests and any vulnerabilities that they may have
- up to two roaming photographers or videographers in addition to the maximum number of guests allowed
- one reading, speech or live performance such as a single singer or musician up to one minute long
- the saying of words to one another (up to one minute long each). These words will be in addition to, and not in place of, the script used by the registrar
- Interview each partner separately where practical and if you wish to do so
To book a ceremony (including a civil partnership signing), please call 020 8489 2605. You can find our current fees on the fees page.
We have produced guest list forms in Word and PDF format to help you plan your guest list, you do not need to send these lists to us but keep them for your own records:
A marriage is formed by saying words and a civil partnership is formed by signing a schedule. Where words are said the couple just need to listen and repeat the words. There is no need to have rings.
Before a ceremony starts, all of your details will be checked again to ensure everything is correct before we start the ceremony or get you to sign the Schedule document.
A Schedule is now signed at the end of both a marriage or civil partnership ceremony/signing. Marriage Registers in England and Wales are no longer in use.
For any ceremony or signing, you must have 2 witnesses aged 16+, who must be able to understand the ceremony.
Certificates and Schedules
One Marriage or Civil Partnership Certificate is included in any Haringey Council ceremony fee. Certificates will be issued after the ceremony but may not be available on the day of the ceremony and may be posted to you afterwards. Please see the Schedules page for more information. Additional certificates can be ordered online at a cost of £11 each.
COVID-19
COVID-19 is now an integral part of all of our daily living. Please visit our COVID-19 page for details of how social distancing and other measures may impact on your ceremony.