The Old Marylebone Town Hall is one of London’s most iconic and most visited wedding ceremony venues. This Grade II-listed town hall is conveniently located in the heart of Westminster in London.
Address of the Old Marylebone Town Hall:
97-113 Marylebone Road
Marylebone
London
NW1 5PT
It is important to note that The Old Marylebone Town Hall will be closed from 4th January 2021 to 19th January 2021 for refurbishment works.
This magnificent wedding ceremony venue was reopened in 2018 after an extensive 4-year long renovation.
The Old Marylebone Town Hall’s famous steps and Corinthian columns have been a scene for many wedding photography stories, including celebrities such as Sir Paul McCartney’s marriage to his late wife Linda, and more recently Nancy Shevell. Other celebrity weddings include Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach, Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit (and later Nicole Appleton), Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith.
The design of the newly restored Westminster registration office is a blend of classic and modern interiors and furnishings. The venue offers 7 luxury ceremony rooms of an array of sizes and following themes of silver, rose gold and gold. For more details of the rooms in this and other ceremony venues in Westminster please visit the website of the City of Westminster.
Preparing for the Wedding Ceremony
During 2020, the staff of The Old Marylebone Town Hall have been working with various social distancing restrictions, so it is important to share with you some information about new arrangements.
Parts of the building may be closed e.g. powder room and cloak room (toilet facilities will be available but time will be limited for everyone to wash their hands before and after the ceremony).
Belongings: The bride, groom and their guests will need to keep all belongings, including coats, with you at all times; therefore excess baggage etc should not be brought into the building as you will not be able to leave it.
Music: There are Bluetooth speakers in all the ceremony rooms, so if you want some recorded music for your ceremony, please download your tracks (for signing the register, and end of the ceremony) onto a phone and we can get it connected to the speakers – it’s a good idea to nominate one of your guests to press play on the day.
Ceremony Script: Many couples would like the romantic ceremony script for the wedding ceremony. As the Westminster Registration Office are required to keep ceremonies to the legal requirements only, there will be no opportunity for personalisation such as readings, but the script is very nice as it stands. Please just keep your rings with you ready to exchange.
Wedding Photographer: Photographers, who are included in your guest numbers, will be expected to agree to a Code of Conduct, which will make clear their responsibility to maintain social distancing, and to work under the direction of registrars and ushers. This may impact on getting desired camera angles, and in the wedding ceremony room they will need to take up a static position (i.e. they can’t move around to get photos). It is crucial for the couples to pass this information on to your photographer.
Dogs will not be permitted in the building (other than guide dogs).
Pre-ceremony questioning: You will need to be available a day or two before the ceremony to have a pre-ceremony interview by the registrar over the phone to confirm the information for your marriage certificate. When you arrive at your ceremony, we will ask you to check that the certificate is correct.
Masks: All guests must wear face coverings at all times, from when they enter when they exit the building. This does not include the two of you but includes anyone else unless they are exempt from wearing a mask. Please ensure you inform your guests as we do not want to have to turn them away.
Arrival time: You and your party need to arrive between 15 – 10 minutes before the ceremony; guests cannot enter the building any earlier and cannot be late as this will mean the ceremony will need to be rescheduled to a different day. When you arrive at the Town Hall, you will all be shown to your reserved wedding ceremony room, and the registrar will ask you to check your marriage certificate before the ceremony starts.
The staff of the venue will not be able to offer a walk-in to the wedding ceremony room at present as there is not sufficient space to maintain distancing, so the start of the ceremony will be fairly informal.
The Government guidance for ceremonies can be found at gov.uk
You may also like to see full FAQs which details all the restrictions on the website of the The Old Marylebone Town Hall where you can also see photos of the ceremony rooms showing the new layouts.
