Booking terms and conditions for ceremonies and appointments

Our terms and conditions relate to both ceremony and appointment bookings.

Ceremony terms and conditions

Your ceremony booking is accepted subject to the following terms and conditions:

• A non-refundable booking fee of £58.30 must be paid at the time of booking
• The balance of your ceremony must be paid no later than two months before your ceremony
• If the ceremony is in less than two months at the time of booking, the full ceremony fee must be paid in full
• If the balance is not paid six weeks prior to the date of the ceremony, your booking will be cancelled and you will be notified in writing

Ceremony preliminaries

• It is your responsibility to complete the legal preliminaries (give notice) correctly and in time for your ceremony
• If your foreign divorce documents are referred to the General Register Office for consideration, Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service will not be held responsible for any resulting delay, cancellation, or financial loss
• If you are referred to the Home Office under the Referral and Investigation Scheme (Immigration Act 2014), Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service will not be held responsible for any resulting delay, cancellation, or financial loss
• If at any point it is alleged that a legal impediment exists, it is the duty of the attending registrar to investigate. Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service will not be held responsible for any resulting delay, cancellation, or financial loss
• It is a criminal offence to enter into a marriage to facilitate a stay in the UK. If your ceremony does not proceed due to UK Visa and Immigration intervention, Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service will not be held responsible for any resulting delay, cancellation, or financial loss

At the ceremony

• Both parties must be at the ceremony venue no later than 15 minutes before the start time. In the event of late arrival your ceremony will need to be rebooked and the full fee will apply. The registrars will have other ceremonies to attend and will not allow the lateness of one party impact upon another ceremony
• It is your responsibility to provide an interpreter if you do not speak and understand English
• It is your responsibility to provide two adult witnesses for a marriage or civil partnership ceremony, who are able to speak and understand English
• Room capacities indicate the total number of people who will be allowed into the ceremony room for health and safety purposes. If maximum numbers are exceeded, some members of the party will be excluded from the ceremony
• Wandsworth Council reserves the right to amend room capacities in line with relevant current Public Health information
• Any music, readings or special requests must be agreed with registration staff prior to the ceremony. No religious references or content will be permitted in a civil ceremony
• The Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service will allocate staff to attend your ceremony but is unable to guarantee the attendance of individual ceremony officers, and reserves the right to substitute staff as necessary for operational reasons
• All ceremonies must take place in a licensed venue/room and this must be correctly stated on your notice of marriage or civil partnership. Please note - if you decide to hold your ceremony in a different venue or room to one stated on your notice, you may be required to give a fresh notice and pay the notice fee again
• Although Wandsworth Registration and Citizenship Service does not place restrictions on the time that you and your guests spend on the Town Hall marble staircase for photographs, parties are asked to be respectful of other groups in order that all ceremonies are able to make reasonable use of the staircase
• No food, drink (including alcohol) or animals (with the exception of assistance dogs) are permitted in the ceremony rooms or elsewhere in the Town Hall. Confetti must not be thrown inside the premises

Ceremony amendments

• A £27.50 administrative fee will be charged on each occasion a change is made to the date, time and ceremony venue. Changes can be made up to six weeks before the ceremony date
• Requests to make a change within six weeks of the ceremony date will not be permitted unless exceptional circumstances apply and can be evidenced. Any such requests will be approved at the discretion of the Chief Superintendent Registrar, subject to availability, and the £27.50 administrative fee

Ceremony cancellations and refunds

• If you wish to cancel your ceremony you must do so in writing, giving your full names, the ceremony time, date and venue. This can be sent by email to: registeroffice@wandsworth.gov.uk
• A full refund minus the £58.30 booking fee will be payable providing written notification of cancellation is received at least six weeks before the ceremony
• No refund will be given for ceremonies cancelled within six weeks of the ceremony, or in the case of non-attendance

Stopping your ceremony

On the day of the ceremony the registrar reserves the right to stop your ceremony if:

• Either party or their witnesses do not arrive in good time
• Either party appears to be acting under duress
• Either party appears to be intoxicated or lacking the mental capacity to understand the nature and purpose of the ceremony
• A legal impediment is raised
• Either party or their guests behave in an unseemly and undignified manner
• The witnesses are unable to speak and understand English, and no substitutions can be made

Appointments terms and conditions

Your notice of marriage or civil partnership appointment booking is accepted subject to the following terms and conditions:

• Full fees are payable at the time of booking an appointment.
• All appointment fees are non-refundable and are taken at the time of booking.
• For notice appointments; the non-refundable booking fee of £35 will be redeemed against the legal notice fee on the day of the appointment. There will be nothing further to pay unless you are subject to the Referral and Investigation Scheme (Immigration Act 2014), in which case an extra £12 per notice will be required on the day.

Appointment amendments

• Appointments can be re-scheduled free of charge, once only, up to 48 hours before your appointment time. After this, a new appointment and fee will be required
• Failure to attend a re-scheduled appointment will result in the loss of your fee, and a fresh appointment and new fee will be required
• Late attendance will result in your appointment not going ahead and the loss of your appointment fee
• It is your responsibility to bring the required original documents to your appointment. Failure to bring the correct documentation will result in your appointment not going ahead, and the loss of your appointment fee. A new appointment and fee will be required