Published on Friday 20 March 2020
BCP Council is working to maintain a level of service during the challenging and difficult times we find ourselves in during the Covid-19 outbreak and there are some difficult decisions to be made to protect the health of the public and our staff.
Following Public Health advice and the decision by the Church of England regarding wedding ceremonies, we have regretfully needed to make temporary changes to our wedding ceremonies to observe social distancing and protect the health of those attending. These changes will affect 293 couples who have booked ceremonies for more than four people up to 31 May 2020.
Councillor Vikki Slade, Leader of BCP Council, said:
"Our Registration Services have made the very difficult decision to introduce new procedures regarding our wedding ceremonies. Following public health advice from central government, along with yesterday’s decision by the Church of England, we will now be limiting the number of people who can be present at our ceremonies.
"The wedding couple, along with two witnesses, will be the maximum allowed in attendance. This temporary measure will remain in place for all ceremonies booked with us until 31 May 2020.
"We are aware that this may have a significant impact on many of our couples, and will also be hugely disappointing. We will be contacting everyone directly in date order of ceremony, so please bear with us, along with all our local venues, who will be affected by this decision. All couples will be given the option to postpone their wedding ceremony to a later date, without charge.
"We are very sorry that we have needed to make this decision. It certainly wasn’t made lightly, but has been made for the benefit of everyone’s wellbeing."
If you are personally affected by this decision, BCP Council will contact you directly. However, you can email registrars.mailbox@bcpcouncil.gov.uk and one of our Registration Services Team will get back to you at the earliest opportunity. Please do not contact us if your ceremony is after 31 May 2020, as we are only changing procedures until that date at this time.