Civil Cermony / Church

Hiya, welcome to hitched. I can only help a bit - my church wedding is costing just over £400. Choir, bells and if I was to have a videographer (sp?) would all have cost extra at the church. But I've got no idea for a civil ceremony I'm afraid!

I know that a civil ceremony in my area in one of the registery offices can cost £300 - £500. There are also other fees for the legal bits, like notice of marriage and certificates. If you go onto your local council's website, it will probably have info on prices there.

As for booking it, probably the earlier the better, like most weddingy things.

Hi we are having a civil ceremony and our venue dont charge extra for the ceremony, and with registrars fees and notice of intent to marry it is costing around £400. we booked the registrar a year in advance as they said this was the earliest that it could be done. HTH

My civil ceremony fees (for my wedding this aug) are £480, not including ceremony room hire from the hotel, but that has been included in the package we have booked with our hotel.

there are obviously fees to pay with a church ceremony - i couldn't say how much, though i'm not convinced it's a cheaper option by any means. my only question would be why would you want to get married in a church if you are not a christian? you haven't said whether you are or not - i'm not sure why anyone who does not believe in god would want to marry in a church and say vows to a power or being they don't believe in.

anyway, if money is your motivation, the cheapest option would *probably* be to get married at the council's own registry office. you need to book your registrar no more than one year in advance.

welcome to hitched btw ?

Just to add that some registry offices let you make provisional bookings more than a year in advance too. Best place for info is your local council website under community > Births, Marriages and Deaths (or similar).

Good luck.

hello & welcome to hitched! ?

mr hillier & i are having a civil ceremony. Our registrar fees are in the region of £250 & our venue (we are having wedding & reception at the same place) is giving us the use of 3 rooms (ceremony room, another room for drinks while photos are being taken & restaurant) for £100, then we also have the meal & drink fees on top of that.

all the best and let us know what you decide on & you MUST MUST MUST post pics.....................its the rule ?

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This is the exact reason I've always given for not having a church wedding. Completely OT but never heard it from anyone else!

Hello and welcome

Can't see there being that much difference in the price. I'd assume if civil places were offering it for free then the price of it is hidden in the reception cost somewhere.

If your looking at saving money then do that via your meal/dress/venue etc and not the decision to have a civil or church ceremony.

Last night i booked my vicar for 2010, the whole lot for the church ceremony, bells choir and flowers is costing 501. i know with civil ceremonies i think there is a charge of about 300 pounds but you still have to pay for bans marriage certificates and things like that. only thing i would say be careful when booking a venue, some i looked at priced me for a civil anyway, even tho i wernt having it and they wanted to charge 300 quid just told hold the ceremony there, as well as the registrars fees this works out more expensive.

to be honest i dont think there really is a grat deal in it i think its about 200 quid so you should go with what you prefer.

Haven't a clue but just wanted to say 'hi and welcome'!

We're having our ceremony at the venue, can't remember the exact cost. The issue for us is that we wanted a 2pm slot & there weren't any available registrars at that time. So we've booked a 12pm slot but really hope that we can change it as if we marry at 12pm & are having everything in the same venue there's gonna be a lot of waiting around time that we're gonna have to fill with something. (thinking large lawn games if weather permitting)

So I would definetely advise booking the earlier the better. As clearly 15 months early wasn't early enough for us!!

I think you should think about how important it is to you as to whether you want to marry in a church or not and not go on the price - in any case, the price of church cermonies vary

We are getting married in church and we are paying £795 and that is just the service and the bells to be rung.

I have a friend who is getting married and she only has to make a donation to the church she is marrying in (both Kent churches)

PS - Welcome to Hitched !

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I see from your other post that you are in Gloucestershire. I know they are now taking bookings for civil ceremonies more than a year in advance. You just can't give notice more than a year in advance. Sorry can't help with church weddings. Oh, and prices differ depending upon where and what day you get married. As someone has said, check out the county council website.

We are having a civil ceremony and having the Registrar attend at the Hotel. The total cost including marriage license, fees etc is around £350. I live in Ayrshire and there are 3 Councils in this area and each were a different price.

If you go on to your council website they should give details of the costs for your area.

Hi B2Bhha

So then, civil ceremony costs in Cheltenham for this year are £398.50, on average you will be paying between £350 upwards for your civil room hire. If you are getting ready at the venue, you won't need a car, but if you are travelling to the venue then you can add on about £250-£400 for cars. Regarding church weddings, church fees do vary but on average they are £400. This doesn't usually include any music so could pay between £100 -£200 for an organist, £100 for bells, £100 for the choir etc. Read this to give you a better idea

https://www.yourchurchwedding.org/your-wedding/the-cost-of-church-weddings.aspx

The Greenway is a lovely venue as mentioned in your other post by Civil Ceremony as it's max is 45 for a ceremony, plus they don't allow evening receptions so should suit. Manor by The Lake is another gorgeous venue but they do charge an exclusive fee. Dumbleton Hall could be a bit big for just 30 guests although you could be different and have a horse shoe table layout which would fill the room.

If you are on a budget and wanted something a little bit more relaxed then go to The Royal Oak in Prestbury. They have a very nice seperare function room with bar that goes out onto the gardens and only a couple of hundred £ to hire and also prefer not to have evening receptions due to noise although they don't have a civil ceremony license. Although Prestbury House Hotel does across the road although it's a bit tired looking and the managers are a bit difficult.

I don't know if it's a bit far out, but one of my absolutely favourite venues is Manor House Hotel in Moreton on Marsh. They only charge a per head price and the hotel is traditional on the outside and more modern inside.

Depending on when you were looking to get married, The De La Bere Hotel overlooking Cheltenham Racecourse is currently being refurbished and is a beautiful location with amazing views. The Kandinksky is also being refurbished and did caterer for small parties as does Hotel Du Vin.

Well I hope that helps a little bit.

Ruth

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