Marriages and Civil Partnerships
- Getting married or forming a civil partnership
- Booking a marriage or civil partnership in Haringey
- Our venues
- The ceremony
- Certificates and schedules
- Paying for a ceremony
(Image courtesy of Wolf & Co)
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 1 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.
Booking a marriage or civil partnership in Haringey
We have a wide range of venues in Haringey including ceremonies in the George Meehan House garden from Spring 2023. To request a ceremony choose your venue and then provide us with your preferences or provisional venue booking date and time, using the ceremony request e-form below.
We will then check our available ceremony dates to best match your needs. Once we have found what we think is your perfect match we will make a booking for you to pay using our Secure Payment E-form before the end of the next working day or contact you to discuss other options.
Ceremony Request e-form For marriages and civil partnerships
If booking a venue away from George Meehan House (The Earlham Suite) check that the venue is available before booking a registrar. We aim to reply within 2 working days.
If you prefer to call, contact our Customer Services Team on 020 8489 2605 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
Our venues
There is a choice of venues in Haringey.
Haringey Register Office and The Earlham Suite are located at George Meehan House in Wood Green.
Please note: Haringey does not do any marriages or civil partnerships at Haringey Register Office. All ceremonies at George Meehan House take place in The Earlham Suite, including ceremonies and signings for the statutory fee.
The address is:
George Meehan House
294 High Road
Wood Green, London, N22 8JZ
We are about a 10-minute walk from Wood Green Underground Station on the Piccadilly Line and less than 15 minutes walk from Bowes Park Station on National Rail.
Buses: 121, 329, 141 and 232. The house is located in the middle of Woodside Park (N22).
In the Earlham Suite at George Meehan House we have 2 ceremony rooms: the more intimate Earlham Room and the larger Woodside Room.
- 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 1-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.
There is also a range of other venues, each venue has its own maximum guest numbers. Please visit our venues page for more details.
Ceremony Request e-form For marriages and civil partnerships
The ceremony
You are welcome to personalise ceremonies. This includes:
- 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
- Walk 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
- You can have a reasonable number of roaming photographers or videographers in addition to the maximum number of guests allowed
- Readings, speeches or a short live performance such as a single singer or musician (space permitting, talk to us if you are unsure)
- The saying of words to one another. 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. See our current fees.
The waiting time for a ceremony including a civil partnership signing for the statutory fee is typically 3 to 4 months long, standard fee waiting times are often very short.
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.
Paying for a ceremony
To make a payment towards an existing booking please use our secure payment e-form.
Secure Payment e-form To pay for ceremonies already booked
A minimum payment of £211, or the full ceremony fee if lower, is required to secure a booking.
To make a booking choose your venue and then use the Ceremony request E-Form or call 020 8489 2605.