Ashridge House is a spectacular, award-winning wedding venue in Hertfordshire, only 30 miles from London. Once a royal residency and steeped with over 700 years of history, Ashridge House is the dream wedding venue for your special day.
Set in 27 acres of stunning grounds, Fanhams Hall is a Grade II listed Jacobean mansion offering licensed outdoor and indoor civil ceremonies. With periodic features in the main house and a contemporary venue also we have something to suit everyone.
Bushey Country Club is the ideal setting for your exclusive wedding ceremony, reception or event. Set in a picturesque golf course, hidden behind Bushey High Street, the Club really is a unique and special venue. Hertfordshire weddings and receptions
A stunning backdrop, for your special day, let us create a day to remember! Our Stunning Manor House wedding venue in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. With a license for civil ceremonies for up to 175 guests and banquet for up to 500 guests.
Happy ever after starts at Mercure St. Albans Noke Hotel. Our premier wedding venue and hotel is licensed for Civil Ceremonies for up to 100 guests. Flexible event suites suitable for 10-250 guests. 110 bedrooms, including a suite and deluxe rooms.
The Manor Elstree is a unique Tudor revival mansion hotel nestled among 10 acres of beautiful gardens with views of the London City Skyline, making our hotel one of the most amazing wedding venues in Hertfordshire.
Set in over 200 acres of beautiful, Hertfordshire Countryside, Mill Green Golf Club is a calm haven in which to hold your wedding celebrations.
Knebworth Park is a stunning wedding venue in Hertfordshire. With a license for civil ceremonies, the use of the house or barns for your wedding ceremony, breakfast and reception.
Luxury wedding venue in Hertfordshire for up to 140 guests. Four licensed areas for civil ceremonies with accommodation available.
The historic Old Palace and the contemporary Riding School are both beautiful venues for your wedding celebration including ceremony - suitable all year round with stunning gardens and backdrops for photographs.
Milling Barn Wedding Venue is located in the beautiful rolling North Hertfordshire countryside, yet is only 45 minutes from London. The stunning 17th century oak framed barn is set on a family farm, and is surrounded by 40 acres of fields.
We are a beautiful, historic country house licensed for civil wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions in Essex. Situated in the breathtaking beauty of the Hertfordshire/Essex countryside, providing an exquisite backdrop for your special day...
We have been helping couples celebrate the most important day of their lives for over 70 years. We pride ourselves on providing the perfect fairytale setting for a wedding celebration to create truly special memories to last a lifetime.
Ware Priory has established itself as one of the leading wedding venues in Hertfordshire. Licensed for your ceremony, offering the venue with exclusive use and we can guarantee that your wedding is the only wedding that day.
Perfect wedding ceremony and reception venue in Hertfordshire. Situated in Bedwell Park, in the scenic, rolling countryside of rural Hertfordshire in the South East of England we can offer you a bespoke wedding day to savour.
Nestled in 12 acres of landscaped gardens and wooded countryside, Grade I listed Rothamsted Manor in Harpenden, Herts provides an unforgettable backdrop for your special day with magnificent historic interiors, plus rooms for your wedding ceremony.
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).
Wedding venues licensed for civil ceremonies are the most popular.
If you want a legally-binding wedding ceremony in Hertfordshire with no religious affiliation, 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.
Most wedding venues in Hertfordshire will have a civil ceremony license, however some don't, so you will want to ensure that your chosen venue does before booking them. 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...
Not just traditional wedding venues have civil ceremony licenses. Some more unique venues including safari parks, tree houses and beach venues have this license. 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 Hertfordshire. Check them out.
When a venue in Hertfordshire applies for a civil ceremony license it needs to be assessed by the local council. 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 Hertfordshire.
The law does not consider marquees to be permanent structures, even ones that are up all year round. Due to this law, you can't legally have a civil ceremony in a marquee, even if it's permanent. 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. Ask your chosen registrar about what you need to say during your civil ceremony and then you can work around this to write your own vowed and promises to your partner. Find an abundance of venues licensed for civil ceremonies in Hertfordshire on Guides for Brides.
You can't have your civil ceremony in a religious building in Hertfordshire, 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. Another benefit to having a humanist ceremony as opposed to a civil ceremony is that you are allowed to include religious elements such as religious music or readings.
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.
