Weddings database for venues licensed as approved premises for Civil Ceremonies including Partnership

Database Coverage:

The database includes all of the following Counties and their respective main towns as well as

Venues in smaller towns and villages:

England

Bedfordshire (Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Biggleswade, Sandy)

Berkshire (Reading, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Newbury, Windsor, Wokingham, Abingdon)

Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Slough, Buckingham, High Wycombe)

Cambridgeshire (Cambridge, Wisbech, Ely, March, Whittlesey, Chatteris, Linton)

Cheshire (Chester, Stockport, Birkenhead, Wallasey, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Crewe)

Cornwall (Bodmin, Truro, Camborne, Redruth, St. Austell, Falmouth, Penzance, Newquay)

Cumberland (Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, Penrith, Keswick, Brampton)

Derbyshire (Derby, Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne)

Devon (Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton, Barnstaple, Tiverton, Newton Abbot, Tavistock)

Dorset (Dorchester, Poole, Weymouth, Sherborne, Wimborne Minster, Shaftesbury)

Durham (Durham, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Hartlepool, Gateshead, Washington)

Essex (Chelmsford, Basildon, Romford, Southend, Colcheter, Harlow, Brentwood, West Ham)

Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Bristol, Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, Tewkesbury)

Hampshire (Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Basingstoke, Newport)

Herefordshire (Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Leominster, Ledbury, Bromyard, Kington)

Hertfordshire (Hertford, Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Hatfield)

Huntingdonshire (Huntingdon, St. Ives, St. Neots, Ramsey, Yaxley)

Kent (Maidstone, Canterbury, Bromley, Rochester, Margate, Folkestone, Dover, Greenwich)

Lancashire (Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Bolton, Warrington, Barrow-in-Furness)

Leicestershire (Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Coalville, Lutterworth)

Lincolnshire (Lincoln, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Boston, Grantham, Stamford, Skegness, Louth)

Middlesex (City of London, Harrow, Enfield, Staines, Ealing, Potters Bar, Westminster )

Norfolk (Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Dereham, Cromer, Hunstanton)

Northamptonshire (Northampton, Peterborough, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough)

Northumberland (Alnwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Morpeth, Hexham, Berwick-upon-Tweed)

Nottinghamshire (Nottingham, Mansfield, Worksop, Newark, Retford, Southwell)

Oxfordshire (Oxford, Banbury, Witney, Bicester, Henley-on-Thames, Carterton, Thame)

Rutland (Oakham, Uppingham. Cottesmore)

Shropshire (Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Market Drayton, Ludlow)

Somerset (Taunton, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Bridgwater, Wells, Glastonbury)

Staffordshire (Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Cannock, Lichfield)

Suffolk (Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Haverhill, Bungay)

Surrey (Guildford, Croydon, Woking, Sutton, Kingston-on-Thames, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Brixton)

Sussex (Chichester, Brighton, Worthing, Crawley, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Horsham)

Warwickshire (Warwick, Birmingham, Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon)

Westmorland (Appleby, Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside, Kirkby Lonsdale)

Wiltshire (Trowbridge, Salisbury, Swindon, Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Warminster)

Worcestershire (Worcester, Dudley, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Malvern, Evesham)

Yorkshire

North Riding (Northallerton, Middlesbrough, Scarborough, Whitby)

East Riding (Beverley, Hull, Bridlington, Driffield, Hornsea, Filey)

West Riding (Wakefield, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Halifax, Harrogate)

York

WALES

Anglesey/Sir Fon (Beaumaris, Holyhead, Llangefni, Amlwch, Menai Bridge)

Brecknockshire/Sir Frycheiniog (Brecon, Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Talgarth, Llanwrtwd Wells)

Caernarfonshire/Sir Gaernarfon (Caernarfon, Bangor, Llandudno, Conwy, Pwllheli, Porthmadog)

Carmarthenshire/Sir Gaerfyrddin (Carmarthen, Llanelli, Ammanford, Llandovery, Kidwelly, St. Clears)

Cardiganshire/Ceredigion (Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter, New Quay, Tregaron)

Denbighshire/Sir Ddinbych (Denbigh, Wrexham, Ruthin, Abergele, Llangollen)

Flintshire/Sir Fflint (Mold, Flint, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Connah's Quay, Holywell, Buckley, St. Asaph)

Glamorgan/Morgannwg (Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Barry, Caerphilly, Bridgend, Neath, Pontypridd)

Merioneth/Meirionnydd (Dolgellau, Bala, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Barmouth, Harlech)

Monmouthshire/Sir Fynwy (Monmouth, Newport, Blackwood, Cwmbran, Abergavenny, Chepstow, Tredegar)

Montgomeryshire/Sir Drefaldwyn (Montgomery, Newtown, Welshpool, Machynlleth, Llanidloes)

Pembrokeshire/Sir Benfro (Pembroke, Milford Haven, Haverfordwest, Fishguard, Tenby, St. David's)

Radnorshire/Sir Faesyfed (Presteigne, Llandrindod Wells, Knighton, Rhayader, New Radnor)

Planning your wedding / partnership ceremony

Since April 1995 if you live in England or Wales you have been able to marry in any of the Register Offices or a place licensed to hold weddings, Civil Marriage Ceremonies. From December 21st 2005 you are able to hold a Civil Partnership Ceremony (often termed a pink wedding) at these same places. These are referred to as Approved Venues or Licensed Venues

You can choose from around 4000 of these Licensed places and Register Offices within England and Wales without having to set up residence in the registration district in which the establishment is. A residency requirement is however still needed in order to give your 'Notice of Marriage' or' Notice to Formulate a Civil Partnership'. For further details please use the Preliminaries link alongside.

The site has been developed to offer information on all of those available venues. These include Stately homes, Historic buildings, Hotels, Register Offices, Pubs, Restaurants, Sports Centres, Castles, and even more unusual ones such as the London Eye, Chester Zoo, Poldark Mine, Pinewood Film Studios, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester Football Clubs, Polhawn Fort, Hastings Pier, Cheltenham Racecourse, Centre Parcs in Suffolk, on the H.M.S.Trincomalee or the HMS Belfast, on Concorde at Manchester,or in Willesborough Windmill Kent, providing you with a huge choice and a variety of settings for your civil ceremony.

Although currently ceremonies are not allowed to take place outdoors or in temporary or moveable structures such as marquees or boats, certain venues do have permanent constructions outdoors i.e. pergolas, gazebos etc. which are licensed

Currently we have around 4,000 venues listed in the database which are all licenced to hold Civil ceremonies on their premises.

There are many restrictions on becoming an approved premise. For example, licences will not be granted to: private residences or buildings (as free public access must always be guaranteed); open spaces such as parks and sports fields; where there is a licensed bar in the marriage room (even if a shutter or folding door can be closed); mobile premises like ships, boats or aircraft (unless permanently fixed or moored).

The building must not have any religious connections, both past and present, and it must be deemed 'fit and suitable'. The designated ceremony room in the building may not be used for any other purpose during the ceremony and neither hymns, religious readings or music is permitted. For further details on how to obtain a licence please visit the following link to the General Register Office website. You will also need to combine this with information and an application through the appropriate Local Council Authority.

For those planning a religious church or chapel wedding please follow the following link to information on the preliminaries required.

Religious Weddings

United Kingdom Postal Areas Covered and searchable in the database

AL - St Albans, B - Birmingham, BA - Bath, BB - Blackburn, BD - Bradford, BH - Bournemouth, BL - Bolton, BN - Brighton, BR - Bromley

BS - Bristol, CA - Carlisle, CB - Cambridge, CF - Cardiff, CH - Chester, CM - Chelmsford, CO - Colchester

CR - Croydon, CT - Canterbury, CV - Coventry, CW - Crewe, DA - Dartford, DE - Derby, DH - Durham, DL - Darlington

DN - Doncaster, DT - Dorchester, DY - Dudley, E - East London, EC - East Central London, EN - Enfield

EX - Exeter, FY - Blackpool (Fylde), GL - Gloucester, GU - Guildford, HA - Harrow, HD - Huddersfield, HG - Harrogate

HP - Hemel Hempstead, HR - Hereford, HU - Kingston upon Hull, HX - Halifax, IG - Ilford (and Gants Hill)

IP - Ipswich, KT - Kingston-upon-Thames, L - Liverpool, LA - Lancaster, LD - Llandrindod Wells, LE - Leicester

LL - Llandudno, LN - Lincoln, LS - Leeds, LU - Luton, M - Manchester, ME - Medway Towns, MK - Milton Keynes

N - North London, NE - Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NG - Nottingham, NN - Northampton, NP - Newport, NR - Norwich

NW - North West London, OL - Oldham, OX - Oxford, PE - Peterborough, PL - Plymouth, PO - Portsmouth

PR - Preston, RG - Reading, RH - Redhill, RM - Romford, S - Sheffield, SA - Swansea, SE - South East London

SG - Stevenage, SK - Stockport, SL - Slough, SM - Sutton (and Morden), SN - Swindon, SO - Southampton

SP - Salisbury, SR - Sunderland, SS - Southend on Sea, ST - Stoke-on-Trent, SW - South West London

SY - Shrewsbury, TA - Taunton, TF - Telford, TN - Tonbridge, TQ - Torquay, TR - Truro, TS - Teesside

TW - Twickenham, UB - Uxbridge, W - West London, WA - Warrington, WC - West Central London, WD - Watford

WF - Wakefield, WN - Wigan, WR - Worcester, WS - Walsall, WV - Wolverhampton, YO - York

A list of the Local Authorities, Unitary Districts and London Boroughs etc. that are searchable in the database

Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Blaenau Gwent, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Bradford, Brent, Bridgend

Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Bromley, Bury, Caerphilly, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Camden, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, City of London, Conwy, County of Herefordshire, Coventry, Croydon, Darlington, Denbighshire, Derby, Doncaster, Dudley, Ealing, East Riding of Yorkshire, Enfield, Flintshire, Gateshead, Greenwich, Gwynedd, Hackney, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hartlepool, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Inner Temple, Isle of Anglesey, Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Hull, Kingston upon Thames, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth, Leeds, Leicester, Lewisham, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Medway, Merthyr Tydfil, Merton, Middle Temple, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newham, Newport, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, North Tyneside, Nottingham, Oldham, Pembrokeshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole

Portsmouth, Powys, Reading, Redbridge, Redcar and Cleveland, Rhondda, Cynon, Taff, Richmond upon Thames, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Slough, Solihull, South Gloucestershire, South Tyneside, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Southwark, St Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Sutton, Swansea, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin, The Vale of Glamorgan, Thurrock, Torbay, Torfaen, Tower Hamlets, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Warrington, West Berkshire, Westminster, Wigan, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wirral, Wokingham, Wolverhampton, Wrexham, York