Local register office said come back next year. Fair?

FBaby

barbarawright wrote: »

Really? As a matter of interest, which ones? I thought they had to accept anyone provided you gave 28 days notice. Why would they want to turn people away? (A register office makes a lot of money for a council)

This really surprises me. Surely a register office can rustle up a few more rooms in a council building if they've got a six month waiting list. And there must be other places in the area licenced for weddings. It doesn't take that long to train a registrar.

Won't report the location, but the reason is exactly what OP is facing, very high demand. The register office is in a very stunning building, so very popular, especially one of the rooms.

They are also fully booked for carrying out weddings in licence places. Doing so takes twice the time of the registars (need to be two), so they have to balance this vs doing more at the register office. Not sure about training more registar but in the end, why shouldn't they prioritise local residents?

Fireflyaway

Some popular venues and especially certain dates ( valentines day) do get booked up. Have you asked about different days of the week? If its totally full you will have to wait. You could ask to be notified of any cancellations but it might not suit you. Depends how many guests you want etc.
As others say, you can get married anywhere. You give notice where you live but as for the ceremony it doesn't matter if its not local.

Owain_Moneysaver

In Scotland you submit the Intention to Marry forms by post to the registrar where you will get married, at least 29 days in advance.

Statutory fee £70, local council venues for 10 people start from £125 (including the statutory fee).

barbarawright

FBaby wrote: »

Won't report the location, but the reason is exactly what OP is facing, very high demand. The register office is in a very stunning building, so very popular, especially one of the rooms.

They are also fully booked for carrying out weddings in licence places. Doing so takes twice the time of the registars (need to be two), so they have to balance this vs doing more at the register office. Not sure about training more registar but in the end, why shouldn't they prioritise local residents?

Seems very odd. Register offices are one of the few council departments that actually makes money and they charge more for weddings not in the office to cover the cost of needing two registrars. Not sure why you can't report the location but if this one is only dealing with local residents it's not doing a very good job if it's not meeting the demand and needs to employ more staff

afoolandhermoney

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Bristol say you have to have lived there for seven days before giving notice of intention to marry. They don't say if that's seven days immediately preceeding or any seven days.

That is for the "notice of intention" bit, not the actually getting married bit. You have to give notice in what is deemed your local office (they check proof of address and time at that address) but you are allowed to get married anywhere once you've gone through the notice period. The seven days for Bristol would be continuous seven days up to the day you give notice (there's then something like 15 days before you are allowed to get married).

FBaby

Not sure why you can't report the location but if this one is only dealing with local residents it's not doing a very good job if it's not meeting the demand and needs to employ more staff

I'm not the one to decide whether they are doing a good job or not, I'm sure they have their reasons and maybe they are not finding it so easy to recruit registars. The outcome is what it is though, if you are not local, you can't marry there, end of!

Tahlullah

Vegas is a bit far. Have you tried Gretna Green?

Kynthia

ceh209 wrote: »

Are we getting confused on whether we're talking about:


- Giving notice of intent to marry or;
- Getting married at your local registry office

You have to give notice at the 'local' registry office i.e. one in the district you live in. The marriage can take place at any licensed venue, including any other registry office.

This.

You have to 'give notice' at your lical registry office. Once you've done that you have 12 months to marry wherever you like as long as it's licensed. So you can marry at any registry office.

TonyMMM

Kynthia wrote: »

This.

You have to 'give notice' at your lical registry office. Once you've done that you have 12 months to marry wherever you like as long as it's licensed. So you can marry at any registry office.

Although you do have to nominate the location the wedding will happen when you give notice.

pimento

TonyMMM wrote: »

Although you do have to nominate the location the wedding will happen when you give notice.

What happens if you say a location to marry and when you ask, they say 'sorry, locals only'?

Should you therefore contact your chosen location first?