If you’re getting married in Sheffield, watch out for this price increase

If you’re tying the knot in Sheffield, it’s about to get more expensive.
Register Office fees are increasingRegister Office fees are increasing
Register Office fees are increasing

Sheffield Register Office is increasing its fees for registrars to attend marriages, civil partnerships, vow renewals and naming ceremonies.

It will apply to all civil venues, including ceremony rooms in the Town Hall.

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Couples on a budget can still wed in the register office room for a flat fee of £50 and Sheffield is still cheaper than other places in Yorkshire.

The Register Office’s budget comes from a range of statutory and discretionary fees. It can’t increase fees for registering births, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships as these are set by the Government, but it can review discretionary fees.

Fees haven’t increased for six years but costs have. The service has an income of £935,000, but has operating costs of almost £1.3m.

Officers say if they increase fees, they will have more money to spend on improving IT and refreshing the decor of the ceremony rooms.

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A report says: “The statutory fees for birth, death and marriage certificates have increased from £4 to £11.

“This should increase revenue for the Register Office but the increase is insufficient to bridge the budget deficit.

“The Register Office currently issues around 12,000 certificates per year but it is possible that the increased charges may result in people choosing to purchase fewer copies than they would otherwise have done.”

Sheffield will increase its fees in line with inflation each year but says its average fee – £360 for registrar attendance – is the second cheapest in the region. After fees go up, it will average £417.

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Rotherham is the cheapest at £340 and York the highest at £575.

Ceremonies in the Town Hall bring in 14 per cent of the Register Office’s income and are cheaper.

The report says: “Ceremonies in the Town Hall will range between £150 and £230. This still prices Sheffield extremely competitively in the region.

“Sheffield residents have to give their notice to marry in Sheffield, but are free to choose where they hold their ceremony.

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“Sheffield’s Town Hall is considered to be a prestigious venue and is priced very competitively in comparison to Yorkshire and Humber local authorities.”

The increase in fees will happen gradually, as many ceremonies are already booked or paid for at the existing prices.

Those charges will be honoured and only new bookings from September 2019 will be subject to the increased rate.