Terms and conditions for ceremony bookings

• If you have not paid your full fees at the time of booking, you will be asked to pay these at least three months prior to your ceremony date
• If the ceremony is due to take place within three months of the booking, you will be asked to pay the full fee at the time of booking
• If the fees are still outstanding within three months of the ceremony date, your booking can no longer be guaranteed and may be cancelled
• Suffolk Registration Service will not take responsibility for failure to give notice or pay the balance of fees which result in the ceremony not going ahead as planned.

• In the event that you need to cancel a ceremony, you must notify us as soon as possible, by emailing the office dealing with your booking.
• We will only accept a cancellation from one of the parties to the ceremony and not from any other person.
• An email giving notice of cancellation will be deemed to have been received by the ceremony team on the date of sending, provided that the email is sent on a working day between 09.00 and 16:00. If it is sent by email at any other time, notice will be deemed to have been received on the next working day.
• If the notification is not sent to the correct email address, no responsibility can be accepted by the Suffolk Registration Service for its non-arrival.

• Any amendment to a ceremony booking will incur an administration charge of £40.
• If a ceremony booking is amended the reservation fee will be transferred to the revised booking. This only applies to ceremonies in Suffolk carried out by the Suffolk Registration Service.
• To transfer a ceremony booking you MUST specify a location, date and time to enable the transfer to take place. If you are unable to do this the booking will be treated as a cancellation and the reservation fee will lost.  

• Cancellations made less than 2 months before the date of your ceremony – no refund will be given.
• Cancellations made between 2 to 3 months before the date of your ceremony – We will refund 50% of the fees you have paid, less the reservation fee
• Cancellations made 3 months or more before the date of your ceremony – we will refund the fees paid, less the reservation fee.

• Where a You Plus Two ceremony has been booked, the Registrars will deliver a standard ceremony and no additional choices will be offered.
• Ceremonies in Suffolk County Council rooms have restrictions on vows and music choices. We are also unable to offer readings.
• For ceremonies at Approved Venues Suffolk Registration Service will provide the legal ceremony and a range of choices for your ceremony content. You may include enhancements and every effort will be made to include these, provided they are appropriate for a Civil Ceremony and the choices are received within the time frame.
• We require you to provide your chosen ceremony choices at least four weeks prior to your ceremony date.
• Suffolk Registration Service will contact you for your ceremony choices ONCE by email or telephone.
• If your chosen ceremony choices are not received two weeks before the ceremony, our Registrars will deliver a standard ceremony.
• We will not be able to accept amendments to your choices on the day of your ceremony.

• Suffolk Registration Service will allocate staff to attend your ceremony and reserves the right to substitute other experienced and qualified staff in case of sickness or other unforeseen circumstances on the day.
• We only permit ceremonies to be conducted and registered by our own Suffolk County Council trained registration staff.

• For fire safety, ceremonial dignity and comfort, the number of people in the room must not exceed the licensed capacity of the room. The capacity of all venues and Registration offices will be advised at the time of booking.
• The number of people in the room, must include the bride, groom, registrars, guests, children, babies and any musicians, etc., who form part of your ceremony
• You will be asked to nominate who should be excluded from the ceremony if there are too many people for the safe capacity of the room.

Suffolk Registration Service will not accept liability for:

• The failure of any music system provided by the Venue, you or a third party.
• Any delay or loss caused by your late arrival.
• Any loss caused by a request from you or your representatives to delay the ceremony.
• Any loss or compensation where a ceremony is stopped from proceeding because (a) it would be void if it went ahead, (b) an offence under the Marriage or Civil Partnerships Acts would be committed.
• Any decision to delay the ceremony due to legality or reasons beyond the control of Suffolk Registration Service is at the sole discretion of the Registration Service.
• Once you are asked to check and sign the Schedule at the end of your ceremony, the responsibility for the accuracy of the registration passes from the Registration Officer to yourselves. If you notice any errors after the schedule has been signed and entered into the electronic register, you will be liable to apply for the correction, including payment of the nationally set fee, currently £90.  

• The time booked for your ceremony is the time it will commence.
• The registrars will meet you at your approved venue or registration office approximately 20 minutes prior to the ceremony time.
• If the ceremony should commence late, Suffolk Registration Service reserve the right to amend the ceremony to reduce its duration.
• Should the ceremony not be ready to proceed at the scheduled time booked and Suffolk Registration Service are not responsible for the delay, then we reserve the right to delay or defer the ceremony to a different day/time – this may incur extra fees to be paid by the couple.

• Bookings will be accepted in outside areas during British Summer Time – this is usually the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October – any outside ceremonies at other times would be considered on application.
• The decision whether the weather is suitable for the ceremony to be held outside will be taken by the celebrant in sufficient time for the location of your ceremony to be changed so it can still take place at the time you have booked.
• Couples must sign and return the Outside Ceremonies agreement form to enable a ceremony to take place outside.
• The venue is required to have an alternative area available to complete the ceremony should the weather be unsuitable on the day.
• Suffolk Registration Service cannot be held responsible if the alternative area does not have enough space for all guests to witness the ceremony. You will be asked to nominate which guests are unable to enter the area to observe the ceremony.
• The celebrant will make the final decision as to where it will be appropriate to complete the ceremony when the weather is unsuitable on the day.
• Suffolk Registration Service will not accept any liability arising from any incident or accident before, during or after the ceremony scheduled.