Why choose a wedding at the Old Marylebone Town Hall?
The Old Marylebone Town Hall is one of THE most popular London Town Hall wedding venues. Alongside Islington Town Hall I have photographed most of my relaxed London weddings there. It is an ideal London registry office venue because:
- It is on the tube line so it is very easy for your guests to travel to it. It is equidistant between Marylebone and Baker Street tube stations.
- Its central location gives you lots of options for the after party
- They have a wide variety of rooms catering to any size party you’d need, both in traditional and modern styles to suit everyone’s tastes
- The team conduct so many wedding ceremonies that they are experts at making sure everything runs smoothly and super on the ball!
- The iconic large marble steps are ideal and easy for your whole group wedding photos, considering how busy the street is not many London registry offices can boast that!
What are the room options at the Old Marylebone Town Hall
There are 7 room options for getting married at the Old Marylebone Town Hall. I have mostly photographed weddings in the largest room, called The Westminster but I will detail them all.
The Westminster room at Old Marylebone Town Hall – 100 guests
The Westminster room is their largest space. It is a rectangular long and narrow shape. You get married in the middle of the long side of the rectangle, so the entrance aisle is quite short. There is a large heavy table in front of the window, and two large floral centrepieces there as standard. Personally I have never known a couple to decorate the room, I am not sure if that’s because that’s what Westminster council recommend, but you certainly don’t need any additional florals there.
The Knightsbridge Room- 30 guests
The Knightsbridge room is ideal for those who are into a modern clean aesthetic. It has blue grey toned walls and abstract ring lighting
The Mayfair Room- 30 guests
Similar to the Knightsbridge room, but with a more grey-aubergine-blush tone to the space, the Mayfair room is the alternative option for 30 guests.
The Pimlico Room- 20 guests
The Pimlico and Soho room are the pair of options for 20 guests. The main difference between the two rooms is the Pimlico has a more traditional feel with the guests seated facing you. In contrast…
The Soho Room- 20 guests
The Soho room is the more non traditional L shaped layout of seating for your wedding with 20 guests. Both of these rooms are focused around gorgeous fireplace centrepieces.
The Marylebone Room- 12 guests
This is a gorgeous small dark wood panelled room that is like a mini Westminster room.
The Paddington Room- 8 guests
On the other side of the Westminster room there is another small wood panelled space for intimate wedding ceremonies. It is really important to note that because these three rooms (Westminster, Marylebone and Paddington) rooms are on the same corridor and interconnected, they charge you the same fee for these 12 and 8 guest rooms as they do for the 100 guest room. This is because when you book one of them, they block out all the other rooms on the corridor to avoid you hearing another wedding ceremony during your own!
You plus two wedding ceremony- any room!
If you are planning a you plus two ceremony, you do not get to choose which room you get married in. The registrars will assign you a room on the day based on availability. I did this option myself for my own ceremony- it’s worth noting that you cannot have a photographer or any children in this room, it literally is a quick couple plus two witnesses approach. (For me luckily my witness is a professional wedding photographer and that’s how we got around it! Often for this kind of shoot I will be one of the witnesses).
Marylebone Town Hall is a dog friendly wedding venue
Another fab reason to hold your wedding ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall is that you can now have your most beloved dog at the wedding ceremony! It just has to remain on lead or in a carrier and any mess be cleaned up!
Where do you take your wedding photos at Old Marylebone Town Hall
After your wedding ceremony at The Old Marylebone Town Hall you might want to take some group photos and couple photos. Here’s my advice on where is best to take them
Group photos
As previously mentioned, this London wedding venue is blessed with the largest marble steps. The steps immediately outside the entrance can easily hold your 100 wedding guests. I usually recommend to my couples that we take the “everyone” group photos immediately after the confetti photo. If it is raining, the staff at the Town Hall might sometimes let you use the Westminster Room. However please note that they have such a high turnaround of wedding ceremonies, that you will certainly not get long to do this.
Couple photos
There are a variety of options for couple photos on site of the Old Marylebone Town Hall. It is important to note as they run ceremonies across multiple ceremony rooms in an overlapping schedule, I have sometimes found in peak busy Summer season they pretty much don’t let you stop to take photos inside. You kind of have to hire a documentary wedding photographer who is quick on their feet who can get the shots for you as you go.
An empty ceremony room
Sometimes if you’re lucky, the staff will let you use one of the empty ante rooms for some couple photos if it’s raining outside. This isn’t guaranteed though for sure!
The Hall way
I’ve had couples ask for some family and couple photos in the hallway outside The Westminster, but often the staff are about organising wedding guests, and the light is a little flat, so it’s not ideal
The internal stair case
There are both nice spots on the side steps AND the central steps immediately into the foyer
The external steps and alcove
This is by far the most popular photo spot. You have the biggest time allowance here, and even if the next wedding starts to exit, there are two alcoves, one to either side so you can finish off any couple photos
The lions
You can lean into the iconic giant lion sculptures, they never seem to stop couples from climbing on! So you can choose to have a little fun with it.
Where to have a wedding reception after your Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding
I’ve photographed a fair few wedding ceremonies at the Old Marylebone Town Hall, and although it’s very centrally located my couples have always opted to jump onto a bus elsewhere. I believe this might be because the nearest large capacity venues are all luxury hotels. My couples do tend to prefer a more low key relaxed vibe to their wedding. So I’ve previously photographed wedding at The Singer Tavern, Harrild & Sons wedding dinners, and a wedding reception in Fredericks Islington. More luxury wedding reception venues following Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding ceremonies have been the Renaissance Hotel and The National Liberal Club. For a more edgy urban vibe consider a Loft Studios wedding reception.
Other wedding reception options near Old Marylebone Town Hall
Even though my couples didn’t have an Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding for these reception venues, these two are so close by that I feel they’re worth a mention. The Heist Bank in Paddington is a fun quirky urban wedding venue, and The Amadeus is a more romantic atmospheric London wedding venue.
Useful things to know about having a wedding ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall
The biggest thing to note about planning a wedding at Old Marylebone Town Hall is that it is a popular and therefore fast paced registry office. They even did a special 100 weddings in one day event that was featured on the news! This means it probably isn’t the London Town Hall wedding for you if you want something slow and private. The staff are quite on the ball with keeping you to time. The odds are very high that you will see the previous and next couple at some point during your wedding, as the ceremonies are often back to back or overlapped across different rooms. The same applies for the bus stop outside. If you intend to have a classic London red bus collect all your guests, they can only stop briefly. This means you cannot delay your photos on the steps!
Aside this, it really is the loveliest Town Hall to get married at in London. If you have decided from this article that it isn’t the right town hall for you, then check out Islington Town Hall. Islington Town Hall can also hold up to 100 guests, but it is on the east side of central London.
Booking a London wedding photographer
If you would like to see your Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding in a relaxed documentary style, then feel free to get in touch. I am a candid London wedding photographer photographing fun alternative weddings all over.
