North Northants weddings and civil partnerships could be delayed

Couples wishing to tie the knot in North Northamptonshire may have to wait for their happy day after a problematic double whammy - an increase in demand for marriages and civil partnerships, and a high number of staff absences.

Legally people have to give Notice of Marriage or Notice of Civil Partnership, unless marrying in the Church of England or church in Wales by banns or common licence.

This means making a legal declaration that both parties are free to marry each other and need to prove it with passports or full birth certificates as well as showing proof of address. ​

North Northamptonshire Council's online booking system has been suspended leaving those who must, by law, give Notice of Marriage or Notice of Civil Partnership a tight deadline.

A spokesman for North Northamptonshire Council said: "Due to a mixture of staffing pressures, we have recently experienced a high number of staff absences at a time when there is increased service demands.

“We have taken steps to address this as a matter of urgency and have contacted customers who have Notice of Marriage appointments booked but who are not getting married for a considerable amount of time, to re-prioritise our appointment availability to meet demand across the wider registration service.

“To also manage demand, we have temporarily disabled the online booking function for Notice of Marriages".

Anyone getting married in the next three months who has either not given their Notice of Marriage or Notice of Civil partnership, or they feel it was given over 12 months ago and is no longer valid, should contact the council's service.

All Notice of Marriages or Notice of Civil Partnerships need to be given with 29 clear days from giving notice to the ceremony date and may be longer for people subject to immigration control.

It is recommended that notices of marriage or civil partnership should be given a minimum of eight weeks before the ceremony and both parties need to give their notices in the registration service where they live. You must have lived in the local authority registration service district where you are giving your notice for nine days or more.

There is a minimum fee of £35 each to give notices of marriage.

Across Northamptonshire there are around 90 venues that are approved venues for wedding and civil partnership ceremonies. Click here to see the full list. Anyone requiring support with their registration should email North Northamptonshire [email protected]