London Town Hall weddings
London Town Halls ranked
I love a London Town Hall wedding ceremony –
there’s some thing very classic and quintessentially London about tying the knot at the Town Hall. In fact it’s exactly what I did when I married Mr Ellie – we got married at Islington Town Hall way back in 2009 (don’t do the maths). I love the thought that your Town Hall wedding becomes part of the building’s history, part of the legions of couples who have walked out onto the steps and had confetti thrown and wedding photos taken and hugs and high fives. That having your wedding photos on the steps, or in front of the door is something that countless other people have done, all in the pursuit of the happy ever after – that feels very London to me.
I know too, from having been a Town Hall bride myself, that you often start with the grandest plans to keep things simple – just a registry office ceremony and then to the pub, or something like that. And little by little, it grows. Most of London’s Town Halls can accommodate larger ceremonies too and they make an epic location to get married as part of a bigger wedding day if you want a separate reception location.
I figure you probably know what your local town hall is, and maybe you’ve been to a wedding already at one of the big hitters – Marylebone or Islington – so I thought I’d give you a slightly tongue in cheek ranking of London Town Halls, letting you know the ins and outs of each choice. I thought I should also use this opportunity to point out that you do not need to et married at your local Town Hall – so should you prefer others you can absolutely book them as you would any other venue, then only thing to bear in mind is that you will still need to give notice of intent to marry at your local.
In general expect kind but efficient service, to be given your times slot but not overstay. I guess that’s a courtesy to the couples getting married before and after you.
Again, in general, especially at the less central Town Halls – often the biggest rooms are show stoppers, but if you’re having fewer guests, sometimes the smaller rooms can feel distinctly ‘register office’
London’s most stylish Town Hall wedding locations.
1. Islington Town Hall
Located on: Upper Street
The Pros: On genteel Upper Street, Islington Town Hall has friendly registrars, is set back from the road enough that you don’t feel like you’re congregating in the traffic, has a beautiful interior and is striking distance from a number of wonderful reception venues.
The cons: Red carpet. They are almost too relaxed and couples who married there, as well as myself, have felt they didn’t give specific enough information about what to do when arriving at the Town Hall. Busy – pre-pandemic there was a big wedding every 30 mins which meant you just about had time to come out, throw confetti and then had to get moving.
Largest room: Council Chamber – 85 people
See Sian & Auto’s wedding at Islington Town Hall
Read more: London Town Hall weddings2. Stoke Newington Town Hall
Located on: Stoke Newington Church Street
Pros: stylishly art deco, located a stones throw from Clissold Park. Friendly registrars and a great pub across the road for your guests to enjoy pre ceremony drinks, in classic London Town Hall wedding fashion. They only have one main ceremony space, so it doesn’t feel like a production line.
Cons: Stoke Newington isn’t super accessible for non North/East Londoners.
Capacity 83
https://www.hackneyvenues.com/stoke-newington-town-hall
See Alessia & Mitch’s pandemic era elopement at Islington Town Hall
3. Marylebone town hall
Located on: Marylebone Rd
The OG – famous for famous people getting married there. In Westminster, so I guess that feels like the most central borough right?
Pros: Lovely registrars, rooms are all stylish and well decorated, with Jo Malone fragrances and ever changing seasonal floral displays. It’s iconic.
Cons: On Marylebone Road, which is 6 noisy lanes of congested traffic hell. On a Saturday, it’s run with military precision by the ushering staff, who have a tendency to try and tell you what to photograph where. This is probably only annoying if you’re a photographer and means everything runs to time but I wish they wouldn’t assume or summon you.
Largest room capacity 100 seated guests
https://www.adaytoremember.london/old-marylebone-town-hall
See Annie & Luke’s Marylebone Wedding
4. Hackney Town Hall
Located on Mare Street
Pros: They have some great spaces, and some of the biggest Town Hall ceremony spaces in London, including their light and airy Atria. The building is beautiful art deco.
Cons: Security staff can be a bit officious and whilst it’s set back from the street in a palm lined square, just off Mare Street, I’ve still often needed to figure out an innovative way not to include a drunk man with one shoe in the group photos on the steps.
Various large rooms – Atria 200. Council chamber 149
Committee room 100
These rooms are also run by Hackney venues
https://www.hackneyvenues.com/hackney-town-hall/
5. Chelsea Town Hall
Located on: Kings Road
Ideal for smaller weddings, as their biggest room only accommodates 38 guests. IMO theres something incredibly chic about getting married just off the Kings Road and i still have a soft spot for this location based on that. plus theres some super photogenic streets nearby for photos.
Cons: Given that Kensington and Chelsea is one of London’s wealthiest boroughs, I think the rooms could do with a bit of a Marylebone style make over to make them feel more contemporary.
Brydon Room – 38 guests
https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/marry-me-in-kensington-and-chelsea/
6. Woolwich Town Hall
Located on: Wellington Street
Pros: Tucked away in Woolwich, the interior of Greenwich’s Town Hall is an accidentally Wes Anderson dream – all pink and blue and tiered. friendly registrars, as is common across most of London.
Cons: The side rooms for smaller ceremonies are not as pretty. Due to Woolwich’s proud military history, there’s lots of display cabinets of various pieces of said history, which may or may not be what you want in your wedding photos. Opens up pretty much straight onto the street.
The Victoria Hall 120
7. Lambeth Town Hall
Located on: Acre Lane
Pros: Bit of a hidden gem, it was recently (ish) renovated to make a lovely modern Atrium. You could also do what Harriet & Conrad did, and get your names out up above the nearby Ritzy cinema – a Brixton icon.
Cons: On a really busy junction. Good chance of getting heckled as you’re coming out to do confetti.
Largest room council chamber 100 capacity
https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/choose-love/venues/lambeth-town-hall-rooms
8. Southwark register office
Pros; Good for a quick ceremony for Southwark residents – located half way between Peckham and Camberwell, and located a stones throw from great little post ceremony venues like the Camberwell Arms.
Cons: Pretty dated inside, the garden is also not as nice as they make it out to be.
Largest room 37 inc couple
See Mallory & Luca’s Southwark register office wedding
9. Wandsworth Town Hall
Located on: the A205
Pros: set off the street, with it’s own little courtyard, the main Grand Chamber rivals any of London’s grandest councils chambers. The main inner marble staircase is a bit of an art deco masterpiece.
Cons: On the Wandsworth One way system means that you need to allow ample time to get there. Smaller rooms are a bit dated.
The grand chamber 80
https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/registration-services/ceremony-venues/ceremonies-in-the-grand-chamber/
10. Tower hamlets town (Bromley by bow register office)
Located on: the A11.
They appear to have a new ceremony space in Shadwell which I haven’t been to yet. However last time I was there in 2021, this information applies.
Pros: Good if you live in East London
Cons: Quite dated. These are all notes from a photographer but they have weird lights which change colour frequency, which are imperceptible to the eye but are a bit of an editing nightmare. The registrars are also very keen to tell you what’s a photo opportunity. Relax dudes, I’ve only been doing this 13 years and I’m not giving you advice on how to legally marry couples. Ahem.
A note on other Town Halls
There’s a few I’ve been too once, maybe before a period of renovation; like Hammersmith Town Hall, or Hendon Town Hall (Brent Council) and others in outer boroughs I’ve yet to go to – Waltham Forest or Newham, or Lewisham or Ealing. They seem to be less popular for the kinds of weddings I photograph.
In addition Camden Town Hall, which I’ve only been to once, has undergone refurbishment and I haven’t been there since.
So that’s my rankings of London’s Town Halls – do you agree? What order would you rank them in?
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