Approved Premises Licence

How to become one of our approved premises for civil ceremonies.

• Do you have a venue that would be suitable for a celebratory ceremony?
  
  
• Is your venue secular in nature, of a permanent construction and regularly available to the public for celebratory ceremonies?
  
  
• Would you like to apply for a licence and join our list of approved venues for wedding, civil partnership, renewal of vows and naming ceremonies?

Here at Torbay Register Office, we have been approving premises for marriages and civil partnerships for some years and currently have 18 licenced premises across the bay's towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham.  We pride ourselves in offering customers a wide variety of venues, from hotels, to Kents Cavern, to the Babbacombe Cliff Railway.

Once your premises have been approved, the details of your venue would be publicised on this website and would be included in information packs which are provided to couples requesting information on ceremonies.

The Legal Requirements

There are certain legal requirements which must be satisfied before a licence may be granted.  Some of these are outlined below:

• the venue must be a permanent structure comprising at least a room or any boat or other vessel which is permanently moored (please note any premises outside this definition such as the open air, a tent, marquee or any other temporary structure would not be eligible for approval)
• the premises must be a seemly and dignified venue for the proceedings
• the venue must not be religious premises
• the premises must be regularly available to the public
• the minimum number of rooms should be two (one for the ceremony and one for confidential interviewing purposes)
• the premises must have public liability insurance and a current fire risk assessment

For further information please contact Torbay Register Office.

Applications

The application procedure for a licence is very straightforward and advice is available throughout the process.

The application pack contains guidance notes (see Related Documents) and an application for which is available to download below.

• Apply - Become an Approved Premises for Civil Ceremonies (Printable)

We will then arrange to carry out a formal inspection and place a statutory public notice in the local press. Twenty one days after the notice has been placed if we have received no objections to the licensing of your venue, your venue will become approved. and a licence will be granted which is valid for three years.

Fees

The current fees to licence an approved premises are £1,000.

This price provides you with a licence to cover as many rooms as you require which have been agreed as suitable by the Superintendent Registrar. The licence runs for three years from the date of approval. Should you decided to renew your licence after this time, the renewal is offered at a reduced rate of £700.

Related Documents

	Approved Premises Licensing Guidance notes for those wishing to licence a venue as an approved premises for civil weddings and civil partnership ceremonies. Last updated: 17/07/2008 (83 KB)
	Appendix A Notes on requirements before an approval may be granted. Last updated: 17/07/2008 (72 KB)
	Appendix B Details of the conditions to be attached to grants of approval. Last updated: 17/07/2008 (70 KB)
	Appendix C Additional information for applicants of an approved premises including renewal, revocation, reviews and registration. Last updated: 17/07/2008 (68 KB)
	Appendix D Guidance for those wishing to marry or register a civil partnership on approved premises. Last updated: 17/07/2008 (70 KB)

To view any published Related Documents for this service you will require the appropriate software. To download this software please see our documents help page. All links to documents will open in a new window. To request documents and files in an alternative format please contact us using the contact information provided on this page.