Countryside wedding venue in Maldon, a converted historic wedding barn, with a license for ceremony and plenty of room for your wedding reception celebrations.
A barn conversion set in beautiful countryside, Forrester Park is an independent venue which has been hosting wedding celebrations for over 40 years. The venue is licensed for both indoor and outdoor civil ceremonies.
Private country house, set in acres of beautiful landscaped gardens in Essex. Beautiful luxury wedding venue with bridal suite & spa. The Orsett Hall Wedding Chapel really is unique & the only venue in Essex that has a Chapel in its own grounds.
That Amazing Place offers exclusive overnight accommodation in our stylish and extremely comfortable bedrooms, with our new luxurious Bridal Cottage and 13 additional guest rooms (sleeping up to 27 people).
Hylands House in Chelmsford is one of the premier wedding venues in Essex. We cater for both wedding ceremonies and civil partnerships. Intimate or grand weddings in our mansion house or grand pavilion. Essex 2019 / 2020 wedding offers available.
Unique Wedding Venue in Stock, Essex. Crondon Park is the perfect venue for your perfect day. Our Baronial Hall is an exclusive, self-contained venue with ceremony room, bridal suite, bar and private garden. Accomodation and secluded Bridal Suite.
Set in acres of Parkland in Colchester, with a gorgeous moat as your backdrop, our award winning Manor House Wedding Venue is yours exclusively. We are licensed for ceremonies, with an option, weather permitting, for an outdoor ceremony.
Hedingham Castle, at the centre of a private estate surrounded by countryside of astonishing beauty, is one of the most unique wedding venues in Essex. Romantic fairytale wedding setting for your Castle wedding. Marquee receptions also available.
Wedding civil ceremonies and wedding receptions at The Thurrock Hotel, Aveley, Essex. This modern hotel set in its own grounds provides an idyllic & peaceful setting for your wedding reception.
Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spa boasts over 40 years’ experience hosting weddings at their beautiful countryside hotel on the Suffolk and Essex border.
Beautiful country house for wedding civil ceremonies or wedding receptions in Essex. A historic Country House, situated in the breathtaking beauty of the Hertfordshire/Essex countryside, providing an exquisite backdrop for your special day...
Weddings at Wivenhoe House are everything you’d expect and more. Our stunning 17th Century, country house hotel makes the perfect backdrop for your wedding and is set in the most idyllic of locations.
Gaynes Park is an elegant and stylish barn wedding and reception venue set in a historic private estate. It is approached up a long entrance drive through park and farmland with sweeping views over the London skyline.
A hidden gem perfectly placed to make the most important day of your lives spectacular. Five Lakes is a modern resort hotel set in the heart of the Essex countryside.
Braxted Park comes with acres of stunning grounds and is easily one of the finest wedding venues in Essex for the most amazing celebrations. Enter the gates and discover walled gardens full of beauty and magic that are exclusively yours to enjoy.
Hidden in the historical town of Colchester are some remarkable venues and spaces, which as the Colchester Events company, we are privileged to offer you the choice and flexibility across them all, creating the perfect backdrop for your special day.
A picturesque genuine 15th century Tudor Manor House with a moat, beautiful gardens, set in over 100 acres of grass and woodland with four lakes surrounded by unspoilt countryside. Family run Essex wedding venue with outdoor weddings.
This unique & exciting venue is perfect for magical weddings situated in High Beach, Essex. 4 stunning function rooms. Swimming Pool. Licensed for Civil Ceremonies in 3 stunning rooms.
Fennes is the perfect choice for a wedding venue, with its stunning grounds, and with various rooms licenced we are able to accommodate intimate weddings through to large wedding parties. There is something truly unique about Fennes in Bocking, Essex
Leez Priory is a stunning Tudor mansion wedding venue set in the beautiful Essex countryside and offered exclusively to you for your special day. Three times winner of 'Wedding Ideas Awards Venue of the Year' and it is easy to see why!
Gosfield Hall is a stunning Georgian manor house set in the heart of rural Essex and is offered to you exclusively for your wedding day. Winner of 'Wedding Ideas Awards Venue of the Year' in 2011 and it's easy to see why!
Colville Hall is a unique wedding venue in Essex. Providing the romance and history of bygone years with its courtyard of listed thatched barns around a central Manor House. The beauty of the formal gardens includes ponds, gazebos.
If you're planning your Essex wedding then talk to us - We can help you with every stage of your big day and even provide you with our experienced wedding planner to make sure everything runs smoothly. Amongst the wedding information on this site we give you advice on planning your wedding, how to budget as well as the offers and services we can provide including: wedding entertainment,
The Rose Barn is one of Essex’s best kept secrets, so come and see for yourself the breathtaking grounds and beautiful venue and see how it can be just perfect for your special day.
How is a venue licensed for civil ceremonies? Find out why civil ceremony licensed venues are so popular.
If you want to have your marriage ceremony and reception all in one venue in Essex, 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 Essex. 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.
Have questions about your civil ceremony wedding venue? Take a look at our FAQ below…
It’s not just mansion houses or castles that can be approved wedding venues - approved premises can include everything from hotels and restaurants to zoos, aquariums, treehouses and caves! 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 Essex. Check them out.
If a wedding venue in Essex wants a civil ceremony license, it must be assessed before hand. This is done by the council, who determine whether it's suitable. 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. If you're wanting to have your wedding in a private home or in gardens, you will be unable to do this. The venue needs to be open to the public regularly. 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 Essex.
The law does not consider marquees to be permanent structures, even ones that are up all year round. 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 Essex on Guides for Brides.
You can't have your civil ceremony in a religious building in Essex, 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.
The above requirements only apply to weddings in England and Wales. In Scotland, humanist ceremonies are legally binding, so brides in Scotland have more flexibility when choosing their wedding venues. Unlike civil ceremonies, humanist weddings do not require specific wording, or for the ceremony to be under a permanent structure. If you're wanting to have religious elements to your ceremony, whether that be a song or a reading, a humanist ceremony would work perfect for you in Scotland. Speak to a few venues around you to see what ceremonies they can offer and what would work for you
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Elaine has over 15 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.
