READING Borough Council has congratulated four couples who tied the knot in the newly-updated register office.
Three marriages and a civil partnership were officiated in the licensed Oak Room, a new, modern room which is now Reading’s official Register Office since the beginning of March.
It is designed to suit statutory marriages, a service required for a legal UK wedding if a couple may have had, or then can have, a cultural or religious ceremony.
It is also for couples who want to keep things smaller and more economical before a reception with friends and family.
The room will hold the ceremonies at the Civic Centre on the first Tuesday of each month.
Any couples who had booked The Registry Office for their union have been individually contacted to be notified of the location change.
Ceremonies will still take place in the Town Hall in Blagrave Street, with a room that can seat anything up to 47 people, to the concert hall that can accommodate 700 people.
These are available every day of the week, including the weekends–town Hall bookings remain unchanged.
There are also approved venues across Reading which are licensed for the purpose of marriages and civil partnerships, including several hotels and Thames Lido.
The Registration Service provides the formal registration of births, deaths, and stillbirths, as well as re-registration of births after marriage of natural parents, or to add the natural father. It also takes notices of marriage and civil partnerships and offers private citizenship ceremonies.
Replacement or additional certificates can also be ordered through the website as well as commemorative certificates and wallets to keep them in to celebrate a marriage or civil partnership, or the arrival of a new baby.
Reading Registration Service registers around 5,000 births, 2,500 deaths and conducts around 400 ceremonies every year.
The Registration Service is open from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, except on a Wednesday when opening is at 10.15am.
More information is available via: reading,gov.uk.
