Booking Procedure

Guidance for you to share with couples wishing to have a marriage or civil partnership in an East Sussex licensed venue (Approved Marriage Premises or AMP).

This information is for you to share with couples who have already booked your licensed venue for their wedding or civil partnership.

The next steps

This is a guide for both of you to explain what should happen next. 

It is very important that this advice is followed – a wedding cannot legally be conducted on approved marriage premises except by an Authorised Registrar.

To ensure that a marriage or civil partnership can take place the couple must now:

• Contact us to book their Registrars
  • The simplest way to do this is to use the registrar availablity form on our contacts page. Alternatively, ask them to email ceremonieshub.west@eastsussex.gov.uk (for ceremonies in the Crowborough and Lewes areas), or ceremonieshub.east@eastsussex.gov.uk (for ceremonies in the Hastings and Eastbourne areas).
  • Please note that they must book us directly. You, as their venue, cannot do this for them.
  • They must pay in full at the time of booking. For our fees, please go to our Licensed Venue Fees page.
  • Your couple will be given a provisional booking for the day and, as near as possible, the time of their choice. 
  • For ceremonies not including a legal marriage or civil partnership, the ceremony booking will be confirmed as soon as full payment is received by us.
  • For legal civil marriage or civil partnership ceremonies, please see the next step below.
• Make an appointment to give their legal notice of marriage or civil partnership
  • Each party to a marriage or civil partnership is required by law to attend their local register office, by appointment, to give their Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership. This is where the process for completing the legal preliminaries to a civil marriage or civil partnership will be started.
  • Each party to the marriage or civil partnership must give Notice in the district in which they live at their local register office. If they are subject to immigration control, they must give Notice at a Designated Register Office. For a list of Designated Register Offices, please go to the gov.uk website and download the most up to date list.
  • Your couple will be given the crucial deadlines for this process when they book their registrars (as above).
  • For further information about this process, please see our FAQs section.
  • Once both parties have given their Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership, we will confirm their booking by sending them a Marriage Pack containing all the information they need to personalise their ceremony.

If you, or your clients, have any questions not answered on our FAQs, or you need any further assistance, please call 0345 60 80 198.