Registry Office Wedding Questions?! Help please :)

lal205

Hi All,


Me and my partner want to get married the Saturday before we go on 'honeymoon' (we fly on the Sunday, next Feb).


Firstly, will this cause problems as I will be flying with my maiden name? I wont have changed my name anywhere as I will have only been married 24hrs.


Secondly, this sounds like a daft questions, but my local registry office shows it cost £35 notice fee each, also £50 for the registry office for 6 people, then goes on to say it is £335 IF a registrar is required.... Do we have to have a registrar? Is this the person who marries you?


Sorry I have no idea... but this bumps the cost up considerably.


Last question... we don't want anyone to come to the wedding, because we only want a small affair so if we invite a couple of people then others will be offended... how do we go about the witnesses? Do they have people on hand who are willing to stand in for us? Or is this something we have to sort ourselves?


Thank you

barbarawright

I can answer the last question. I used to work in the same building as a registry office - we got asked all the time to be witnesses. Don't feel embarassed about it - it will be a lovely ceremony and the registrars will have a supply of tame witnesses (you could always email/ring them to check). It will be very much appreciated it you provide the witnesses with a box of chocs though!!! I used to love doing it though, even when I wasn't bought chocs!

4nnabella

As long as the name on your ticket and passport match, then no problems going on honeymoon (so book the holiday in your maiden name)...

I may be wrong but believe the £335 for the registrar is if you're getting married at another venue, and need to book the registrar to come to you? (our wedding was a similar cost - civil ceremony at a country house venue) If that makes sense? So theoretically the only cost *should* be the £70 for giving notice then the £50 for the registry office.

As for witnesses, friends of mine who married abroad (no family) grabbed two random people off the street before the ceremony, although I'm guessing they asked them first if they'd mind, rather than just manhandling them in to the room...

benjus

Flying with your maiden name is fine as long as the name on the flight booking is the same as the name in your passport. Your name doesn't change automatically when you marry; remember that many women don't change their surname at all.

Luella-14_2

I would think the £335 is if a registrar is required at a different venue. I know that the small room at my local register office only costs £80, inclusive of registrar. Witnesses, 2 are needed but register office staff may be able to do this or strangers called in from the street. Check when you go in to give notice.
If your tickets and passport are both in your maiden name then there's no problem. There's no requirement for you to change your name at all.

Birdie85

You can fly under your maiden name, as long as the tickets match the name on your passport you're OK.

You might want to double check with the registry office about the fees, I wonder if you've maybe misread that last bit? Perhaps that's about getting married elsewhere and that's the cost to send out a registrar. We had a sneaky little registry office wedding before having our blessing abroad and it only cost the notice fee + ~£70 (can't remember exactly and it was only 3 years ago!) on the day.

Can't help with witnesses as we brought our parents along but there may be people available at the office or you could try to rustle up a couple of people outside before you go in?!

Mojisola

benjus wrote: »

Your name doesn't change automatically when you marry; remember that many women don't change their surname at all.

You don't lose your birth surname even if you do decide to use your husband's surname after the marriage.

There are lots of women who continue to use their birth name in their professional life while being 'Mrs Husband's Name' socially.

onlyroz

Yes we had to pay about £300 for the registrar to drive about two miles from the registry office to an alternate venue. If we'd been married in the office itself we'd only have paid about £60 I think.

lal205

Thanks everyone for your replies! It has cleared everything up nicely for me!


I think we will ask at the 'interview' stage if they have anyone who can be our witnesses and will make sure we treat them to nice box of chocolate for there good deed!


Our holiday is already booked under my maiden name which is why I wanted to check details first as didn't want to be forced to pay the travel agents a stonking fee to change my name if I had too.

InsideInsurance

You did the right thing booking the holiday in your maiden name, too many people make the mistake of booking it in their name to be and then realise that they wont have time to change their passport etc and run into problems.

Only if you are going to a strict country where non-married couples arent "allowed" to share rooms can you run into any issue but a copy of the marriage certificate sorts that one out.

The registry office will provide the witnesses if you want, it is literally to witness that you have made the two vows of being free to marry and of wanting to marry and not any form of confirming you're a true couple or anything else silly.

We did bring our own two witnesses but no one else to the wedding itself. Had a very small party afterwards with close friends inc the two witnesses. No one had any issues. The Mrs was very late to the registry office and we nearly didnt get to go through to it but the registrar did the ultra abridged version, were it not for the photographer asking for things to be paused/ repeated for the photos then it'd probably have been about 10 minutes at most inc the individual conversations immediately before

arbrighton

We're honeymooning in Uk as my passport expires 2 months before wedding and I think I will change my name, but am too stingy to pay to have the passport sorted twice! Also means we can take the dog with us