Civil Marriages and Civil Partnerships – update

Couples hoping to tie the knot who had to postpone their civil wedding or civil partnership could soon be heading down the aisle.

Ceremonies in Blackburn with Darwen are due to start again by the end of July with a definite date to be announced soon.

The government announced that religious and civil marriage ceremonies and civil partnership formations can recommence in England as long as the venue is a Covid-19 secure environment.

The registrars’ team are currently working hard to get the ceremony areas Covid-19 secure and dates for re-booked weddings/civil partnerships will soon be made available.

If you have, a ceremony booked with us and you still want the ceremony to go ahead on your chosen day we will work with you and your venue to deliver your ceremony while following the government’s guidance

Ceremonies will be limited to the parts of the ceremonies that are required in order for the marriage or civil partnership to be legally binding. The maximum number of people who can attend a wedding or civil partnership is 30 and this includes the couple, registration staff and anyone else such as a photographer.

You need to be aware that the number of people present at a wedding or civil partnership will also be determined by the size of the room where the wedding or civil partnership is taking place to allow for social distancing.

The Registration Service is currently receiving a very high level of enquiries. If you have already contacted the service – please wait to be contacted, as we will get back to you.

If we have not been in contact with you we can assure you that we are continuing to hold your booking and will be in contact with you soon. As far as possible, we will make contact with couples in chronological order of their planned ceremony date.

If you feel that your ceremony might still be impacted by the current situation and wish to avoid any uncertainty, we will be happy to re-arrange your ceremony and any fees paid to Blackburn with Darwen registration service will be transferred to your new booking. If you want to re-arrange your ceremony please email the ceremonies team on ceremonies@blackburn.gov.uk with your names, date of current ceremony and the preferred date(s) and time(s) of the new ceremony.

Until further notice, we are unable to take any new bookings.