Many congratulation on your engagement, welcome to The Dartmouth Hotel, with years of experience in helping couples organise their special wedding day. Our countryside Hotel setting can offer both intimate and larger bespoke weddings, near Totnes.
Set in over 100 acres of glorious parkland, this exquisite Grade I listed Regency house has a timeless elegance about it. We would like you to treat it as your own, and are sure that you will feel at home in the stylish but relaxed surroundings.
Mercure Exeter Southgate is a large hotel wedding venue in the enchanted city of Exeter, surrounded by the historic Exeter wall, blossom trees & a stone throw from the Cathedral. Being licensed for civil ceremonies, you can hold your whole day here.
Award winning Country House wedding venue on the Devon/Cornwall border. With stunning views overlooking the Tamar Valley, The Horn of Plenty offers a romantic & highly flexible venue for your wedding. Your dream wedding venue in Devon.
Beautiful Victorian wedding venue in the heart of Exeter Devon. Unique period function rooms and historic stained glass windowed staircase make a stunning backdrop for your wedding celebrations. This venue holds a civil ceremony license for up to 250
Escot house is the perfect wedding venue for brides wanting an exclusive use venue at an affordable price. Located in Ottery St Mary in East Devon, Escot is a stunning Georgian stately home surrounded by 250 acres of tranquil parkland.
Nestled into a wooded valley on the edge of Exmoor National Park, Deer’s Leap is perfect for couples who want a dreamy, rustic country wedding. A place where they can create a very personal and intimate ceremony and reception, they way they want to!
Holne Park House is one of the most romantic, stylish and unique wedding venues. Our wedding team offer a flexible approach for your day. Perfect wedding venue in Dartmoor National Park, South Devon.
China Fleet is a stunning Wedding Reception Venue located in Saltash, Cornwall. We offer a personal service and advice on anything relating to your big day - civil ceremonies, wedding catering, wedding make-up, and accommodation.
Tucked amid rolling Devon hills, in Axminster, our farm is one of the most unique & popular wedding venues in the South West. Licensed for weddings, River Cottage HQ is a fantastic setting for your ceremony & wedding, close to the Jurassic Coastline.
Perfect Wedding Reception venue is Devon Bickley Mill Inn also available for civil ceremonies situated near Newton Abbot.
Tawstock Court is large Georgian country house and licensed wedding venue situated in 32 acres of grounds and woodlands, surrounded by the beautiful North Devon countryside. Contact us now for a brochure.
An impressive country castle situated on a large private family estate available exclusively for your wedding celebrations. The Castle offers an intimate setting of up to 60 guests, but our grounds enable larger functions of up to 250 in a marquee.
Situated in the heart of Exeter, the Guildhall is an unmistakable piece of the Devon's identity. With a history dating back more than 800 years, its grandeur and elegance would make the ideal setting for your wedding day.
What does it mean to be a licensed venue for civil ceremonies?
Having a civil ceremony is the perfect option for those of you who want a legal ceremony but without having to get married in a church or with a religious connection, and you’re getting married in England or Wales, then a civil ceremony is the best match for you. You can either get married in a register office, or you can have a civil ceremony at an approved wedding venue. To be an approved civil ceremony venue, wedding venues need to apply for a civil ceremony license.
If your dream wedding venue isn't licensed for civil ceremonies, there's other options in Devon. The alternative is marrying in a humanist or spiritual ceremony, which will allow you to marry in any venue (or in an unlicensed part of an otherwise licensed venue, such as a garden or private beach), but will need to be followed by a legal civil ceremony in a register office at another date.
We're here to answer all of your questions on wedding venues licensed for civil ceremonies below...
Civil ceremony licensed wedding venues can range from a classic country house or barn to more unique venues including caves and safari parks. If they’re on our civil ceremony venue list, then you can legally marry there. However, don’t assume that more traditional venues always have a civil ceremony license. Some venues, you can only have a humanist or spiritual ceremony at, or just have your reception there. This is because they haven't paid for a civil ceremony license. We have all of the top venues licensed for civil ceremonies in Devon. Check them out.
Every venue in Devon is assessed and researched before they are approved for civil ceremonies. This is done by the local council in which the venue is based. This includes whether or not they’re in a safe and reasonable state for members of the public, and if they meet fire safety regulations. Due to the venue needing to be regularly open to the public to be an approved venue, you aren't able to legally marry in a private home or estate. If you’re hoping to marry on private land, in a back garden or a large home that isn’t available to the public, you’ll need to hold your legal ceremony in a register office instead.
If you want to tie the knot in an outdoor wedding ceremony, then your wedding venue will need a separate civil ceremony license for this. You can't legally have a civil ceremony in an open area such as in open woodland or under a flower archway on the beach. It must be a fixed structure like a wooden gazebo that is separately licensed. Don’t presume that any permanent fixture in a wedding venue’s garden will be automatically covered by a civil ceremony license. Venues need to purchase licenses for separate structures. If you want to know if you can get married in a garden, search our ‘Outdoor wedding ceremony’ filter or simply enquire with your chosen wedding venue in Devon.
The law does not consider marquees to be permanent structures, even ones that are up all year round. As a result, it can be difficult to have a civil ceremony in a marquee. One way to get around this is to have your ceremony over the threshold of a doorway. This way, your guests can be seated in the marquee while you are technically indoors.
A civil wedding ceremony has certain legal requirements. You must have two witnesses over the age of 18, and you will need to exchange contractual words of marriage. One advantage of a civil ceremony is there's the option to say what you wish as part of your wedding vows. There are some things that need to be legally stated for it to be legally binding but you can work around this. Find an abundance of venues licensed for civil ceremonies in Devon on Guides for Brides.
You can't have your civil ceremony in a religious building in Devon, such as a church. It applies the same way round - you can't have a religious aspect to your civil ceremony. Therefore, unfortunately you are not allowed to have a religious reading during your civil ceremony.
If you wish to get married in Scotland, there's many more venues that you can do this is. This is because in Scotland, humanist ceremonies are legally binding and in a humanist ceremony there's a lot more flexibility on what you and your partner can say. Unlike civil ceremonies, humanist weddings do not require specific wording, or for the ceremony to be under a permanent structure. When you've chosen your wedding venue in Scotland, speak to the staff to work out what ceremony will work best for you. You can even include religious readings in your humanist ceremony!
Elaine has over 8 years of experience working with wedding venues, and advises many of the top hotel and venue brands on their wedding marketing. She has a deep understanding of statistics that can accurately predict the online populaity of a particular venue and she is happy to share that knowledge with wedding couples and venues.
