Births, marriages, deaths and nationality Marriage and Civil Partnership ceremonies

Ceremonies at the register office

Before you can get married or enter a civil partnership you must give a formal notice. Find out what you need to book an appointment to give notice.

Ceremonies at the Manchester Register Office are held in the Pankhurst Suite, Heron House, 47 Lloyd Street, Manchester, M2 5LE.  Telephone number 0161-234-5005.

There is a large ceremony room at the Pankhurst Suite (the maximum capacity of the room is 70 people, the couple, 2 witnesses and up to 66 guests), a large waiting area for guests and a small private waiting room for the couple to use.  

Two witnesses are needed: they can be anybody, including family members, but must both be over the age of 16, speak English and understand what is taking place.  

For a basic ceremony, with just two witnesses and no guests, there are times that the Pankhurst Suite can be booked at a lower fee, but availability is limited. See Standard Ceremony fees information.  

The Pankhurst Suite is very popular as a marriage venue, particularly in the summer, so we allow provisional bookings up to two years in advance. To book your ceremony in the Pankhurst Suite, email us at: registeroffice@manchester.gov.uk with details of your enquiry and a daytime phone number.  

A non-refundable deposit of £40 is payable when you book.  

Read more about what happens at the ceremony

Details of the fees 

Get information for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies at other venues in Manchester.  

Marriage 

You can get married in any approved venue in England and Wales as long as it’s been licensed by the local authority.  

The marriage can only take place at the venue you name on the notice of marriage. If you change the venue you will need to give, and pay for, an updated notice of marriage.  

See a list of licensed venues in Manchester

If you want to marry in a licensed venue you’ll need to book a registrar to attend. Bookings can be made up to two years in advance but we’d advise you to check that a registrar is available before confirming your venue booking.  

To book a registrar email us at: registeroffice@manchester.gov.uk with a daytime phone number we can call you back on. A non-refundable deposit of £40 is payable when you book.  

Two witnesses are needed. They can be anybody, including family members, but they must both be over the age of 16, speak English and understand what is taking place.  

On the day of your ceremony you will sign a Marriage Schedule: it’s a one-page document that’s needed to register your marriage.  

Your Marriage Schedule will include the details of each person getting married: name and surname, date of birth, condition, address and occupation. You can record your mother, father, parents’ or step-parent's details on this document and in the marriage registration.   

 If your ceremony is not taking place at a Religious Building, the Superintendent Registrar will keep the schedule until the day of the ceremony.  

If you are marrying in a religious building, you must arrange for the Marriage Schedule to be collected in advance, and taken to the person who will perform the marriage at the religious building before your ceremony.  

If you are marrying in the Church of England/Church in Wales you will need to contact the Church in the parish where you intend to marry.  

After the ceremony  

Civil ceremonies: the registration officer will keep the signed Marriage Schedule and add the details onto the electronic register at the register office, at the earliest opportunity. The certificate will be available to collect the following working day, if you require the certificate to be posted to you please request this on the day of the ceremony. 

Religious ceremonies: the relevant person from the religious building will return the completed, signed Marriage Schedule to the register office in the district where your marriage took place within 21 days of your marriage. Once it’s received at the register office the details will be entered onto the electronic marriage register within 7 days; only then will a marriage certificate be available.  You should then make an application on-line for your certificate. 

Civil Partnership 

A civil partnership is formed once the couple have signed the Civil Partnership Schedule in the presence of two witnesses and the Civil Partnership registrar.  

The registration of a civil partnership has a simple format. If you prefer, you can opt to simply sign the schedule, without a ceremony, in the presence of your witnesses and a civil partnership registrar.  

The civil partnership schedule will contain a form of words that you must both acknowledge when you sign it, and which you can say to each other as part of a civil partnership formation if you like.  

Although a ceremony is not part of the legal requirement, if you do want one Manchester Register Office provides a range of options in which the legal signing will be included. We can design a ceremony to meet your individual needs.

A civil partnership can only be formed at the venue you name on your notice of civil partnership. If you change the venue you’d have to give, and pay for fresh notices of civil partnership. 

If you want to hold your civil partnership in a licensed venue you will need to book a registrar. This can be done up to two years in advance Always check that a registrar is available before confirming your venue. 

You can hold your ceremony in any approved venue in England and Wales: a wide range of approved venues are available in Manchester.  See a list of licensed venues in Manchester 

You can also hold a civil partnership ceremony in religious premises, as long as the premises have applied for, and been given, approval to hold civil partnership ceremonies. This will still be a civil ceremony, not a religious one. There are no religious premises in Manchester currently approved to hold civil partnership ceremonies.

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