Cheapest legal marriage or civil partnership

dfarry

Hi all... my partner and I have been engaged for ages and ages.... we own a house and have kids.... we are as good as married but we don't have the paperwork and my partner doesn't have my name (which makes her feel a bit left out in the family).

Marriage was something we always intended to do but it got put off and off, and financially it's hard to justify the expense of even a basic ceremony.

I am also looking at the financial and legal aspects of not being married now, pensions, mortgages, wills, parental responsibility... even in this day and age our length of "commitment" and the fact we have split everything down the middle doesn't really count for much.

So my question is if we were to be married or civil partnered how cheaply can we do this.... basically what is the minimum we need to do to be recognised in law as a couple and get the piece of paper to prove it.

Not very romantic I know

halfpint90

Well, i got married/civil partnership in a registry office last year and for that 'service' it was £90.
we had the reception afterwards and then an evening do, but depends what level you want to go to.
All in all i reckon we had change from £4k for the whole lot, start to finish, which for a wedding day these days is a bargain

and the day was perfect!!

so i would say that around the cheapest you could do it for would be the £90 for a registry ceremony.

rosie-lee

A marriage in a Register Office is usually always cheaper mid-week as well. As for the days where the prices are lowest.

Please don't think that you have to spend a lot of money. I have done some very moving ceremonies with just 4 people in the room, no bouquets, bride and groom dressed smartly or even casually.

Usually they go off afterwards for a drink or lovely lunch in a pub nearby.

Absolutely lovely

*moggins*

When I got married 7 years ago we did the whole thing including evening disco for £270. I know that things will have gone up since then but by keeping things basic and accepting offers of help etc I'm sure things can still be kept under £1000.

We didn't bother with cars, my mother in law did the cake, I made my outfit and friends chipped in with buffet stuff, my nephew took wonderful photographs. Basically all we had to pay for was the registry office, rings, the disco (room came free if we used their disco and bar). The men hired their outfits. It was a beautiful day with loads of memories which were made even better because we weren't stressed about the cost.

bride_on_a_budget

a 30 min wedding in our local registry office costs around £90
all you would need to spend on is outfits and rings only if you want them.
if you wanted to celebrate with family and friends you could always book a table at a local restaurant but dont tell them its a wedding as they may put there prices up.

i deal with a lot of budget weddings in my line of work and the cheapest wedding i have oranised was for around £600- register office, meal at chinese restaurant for 30, community center for evening reception, £35 cake (tescos) finger buffet for 80, wine and drinks, out fits- mens asda suits, bride ebay wedding dress, bridesmaids ebay , cameras ebay.
they were happy with it all and were glad they didnt pay over the odds
i hope this helps
bride

kettlefish

Hi
The church can legally only charge £313.50 for the service, and it's extra for things like flowers/organist etc. It does include the cost for the banns being read out, but a certificate is £3.50.

This is more expensive than a registry office but you could pick a picturesque church and get a friend to take nice photos, and could ask about the church hall for a buffet or disco afterwards.

If it's just a formality, however, the registry office will usually work out cheaper.... by around £220 - enough for you, Mrs and kids to go for a nice meal. This would be cheaper still midweek!

HTH, Good luck with it all xxx

Katie-Kat-Kins

As the others said the starting price is £90 just for the ceremony in your local registry office or town hall. You don't have to pay for anything else.

You don't NEED rings, if you want rings you could use ones you already have. You don't have to have special clothes, cake, meal, honeymoon or anything but you may want them........

Have a chat with the future wife and decide how minimally you would be prepared to do it. You could just book into the registry office take two friends as witnesses and just pay the £90 if it is the legal and financial implications that are your reason to marry.

If you want a more traditional wedding you will pay more. But you can keep things low if you want to. Go to You and Your Wedding forums and there are plenty of couples having full weddings with dresses and receptions etc for less than £5k. It is all about what you want and what you will compromise on.

In my experience the oft quoted average wedding costs of £20k are utterly unrepresentative!!!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Incidentally you can't be married or civil partners, only one or the other.

If you are opposite sexes you will be married, same sex civil partners - they are different and not interchangeable!!! If you are a straight couple you are not allowed to be civil partners.

shop-to-drop

rosie-lee wrote: »

A marriage in a Register Office is usually always cheaper mid-week as well. As for the days where the prices are lowest.

Please don't think that you have to spend a lot of money. I have done some very moving ceremonies with just 4 people in the room, no bouquets, bride and groom dressed smartly or even casually.

Usually they go off afterwards for a drink or lovely lunch in a pub nearby.

Absolutely lovely

That's what we did. Both sets of parents and ourselves. Pub lunch in nearby village. 13 years ago now and never looked back we wanted to be married and have kids but didn't want the fuss.

poppycracker

I've got the marriage fees notice in front of me actually....... talk about coincidence!

Aberdeenshire Council Registry

Private ceremony - £46.50
Marriage Notices (1 each) - £52.00
Marriage Certificate - £8.50
Total

---

£107.00

Thats with 8 people at the ceremony (inc bride and groom). If you have more its extra. Thats at Huntly registry Office btw, apparently prices are different even within a council area.

sammie383

Hiya!

Me and my hubby are just coming upto our first wedding anniversary this saturday.

We got married in our local registry office on a friday morning and it cost £117.50. That included a copy of our certificate, and the use of the room.

I bought my dress on ebay for £85, and hubby wore his No2's ( hes an army man ) and our daughter wore a dress and shoes from ebay for £12.

Our rings actually cost more than the whole wedding, but thats because I saw absolutely beautiful ones and really wanted them and wasnt willing to compromise.

We went out for a meal afterwards and his mum and dad paid for that for our guests, ( about 10 of us ) and that was it . No frills no fuss!

It can be done, it all depends what you do and do not want at your wedding.

At the time I actually wa son Mat leave from my place of work, which was a scottish castle which specalised in Weddings! I saw people spend thousands, and decided I didnt want that! xxx