Coronavirus restrictions are lifting from 19 July. This page includes information on how your ceremony may be affected.
All other registration office services are now available as normal.
The number of guests that can attend your ceremony depends on the location. Information about guest limits at various ceremony venues is given below. Children of any age are included in all of these guest limits.
We will contact you before the ceremony to advise you on the current arrangements.
Approved venues will have their own guidelines around the capacity that their ceremony rooms can safely accommodate, we would advise you to verify this with your venue ahead of the ceremony.
From 21 June there will no longer be a maximum number of attendees at a ceremony. Limits on guest numbers will be set by the approved venue based on the capacity that their ceremony rooms can safely accommodate in line with social distancing guidelines and the venue’s risk assessment. We advise you to verify confirm this the capacity with your venue ahead of the ceremony.
The capacity of the Castle is 50 people. The couple and both registrars are not included in this number.
If you are having a photographer, they will be included in your guest numbers.
Please refer to the individual ceremony room pages to review the capacity ahead of your ceremony.
Small registration office ceremony
These ceremonies are only for six people: the couple, their two witnesses and both registrars. This is the same capacity as before the pandemic.
From 19 July, face coverings will no longer be mandatory at ceremonies, but we recommend their use, particularly in ceremony rooms that may feel crowded. Our registrars may still choose to wear a face covering during the ceremony and we ask you to kindly respect their decision.
The signing of the schedule will be managed by the registrars on the day and we will keep space between the registrars and the couple/witness. The couple, witnesses and our staff will be asked to sanitise their hands both before and after coming into contact with the schedule. Only two witnesses can sign the schedule. The couple and witnesses will need to bring with them a blue or black pen to sign the register with, we are not able to provide pens to be used or shared.
After your ceremony has been concluded the marriage/civil partnership schedule will be returned to our office to be entered into the electronic register. We will produce and post your certificate to you within seven days of the schedule/document being returned to our office. You will no longer receive a marriage certificate at the ceremony. All certificates will be produced electronically and are no longer handwritten.
