AAARRRGGGHHH...and HELP!

Does the endless circle of red-tape ever stop?  Ok, we are thrilled that we can get married HERE before I go back and get my spousal visa THERE!  So, I go to the registry site for Leicestershire county (where we are), I get the phone-number so that Jamie can call and make an appointment for us (he's much better on the phone than I am.  I have this annoying phone-phobia and start stuttering when I try to call official-type people ~~sigh~~  I'm a mess....but, that's another story) so we can both go in with our ID and info....right?  Since we need to get this done pretty quickly (since I have to go back to the States in Oct.  :\\\'( ), and you have to have the licence here 15 days before the ceremony.  Okey dokey....but, when he called today he was asked where the wedding was going to be.  He said he wanted it to be a registry wedding in Loughborough (the town closest to the village where we live...and also the town in which Jamie works), and then the girl told him that we had to have a date to be married and a place to be married in already booked in order to get the licence!

ARRRGGGHHH!!  Ok, sooooo....HELP.  Step by step, what do we do so that we can get married before the end of Oct. when I have to go back?

So, pick a date and then call:

Loughborough Registry Office/Local Offices Tel: 01509 611954

We got married in a different registry area than the one we lived in - can't remember if we had to have the actual date booked before we registered or not.  I know we had to bring a sort of "permission slip" from the Medway Registry to the Gravesham Registry once the 15 days had passed.

Be aware that Saturday weddings are hard to get - even at the registry office.  And you can't get married after a certain time in the afternoon.  I want to say it's 4pm, but I could be wrong. 

Hmmm, Well all we did was call, go down to the office to give our intent to marry, they asked us a date, and we said whenever is the soonest, and 17 days later on a Friday morning we were married in 10 minutes with only 4 people there.  It was very easy.

Hmmm, Well all we did was call, go down to the office to give our intent to marry, they asked us a date, and we said whenever is the soonest, and 17 days later on a Friday morning we were married in 10 minutes with only 4 people there.  It was very easy.

You got married in the same area you were living, though, right?

Thanks, Peedal - and for finding that number for me.  Yeah, Jamie and I expect that the likelihood of getting something on a Saturday would be VERY slim.  So, we're prepared for that eventuality.  It's not good that Jamie will have to take off more work (since he has taken off so much work for me anyway)....but, he'll do it.....since marrying me is the paramount thing.

Sounds like you've got the info. you need now - just call the office where you want to get married and book a date (give yourself a window in which to fit those 15 days), then call your local register and make an appointment to give notice (FYI, my Jamie and I both had to give notice even though I'm American, but it may be different if you don't officially reside here yet....) Then after the 15 days are up you go back to the register and pick up your "permission" papers and then get them to the office you're marrying in BEFORE the wedding date. And when you give notice, bring your passports, proof of address (we brought a council tax bill), and £30 for each notice....

Jamie and I gave notice a couple of weeks ago and it was a cakewalk - very, very simple. Now hopefully the wedding will be too!

Good luck with everything!!!

  ~~does major happy jig~~

Thank you, Anne.  I have GOOD NEWS!  YAY (and also a big, fat, hairy MEGA-YAY)!!!!!

Ta again, Peedal, for that number. ~~HUGS~~


Jamie called me this morning at 10:30 and asked me if I would marry him on September 18th (we wanted to avoid the 11th if we could, ya know), 12:30 pm, @ the registry office in Loughborough.  I said, of course, that I would be more than delighted to marry him and proud to become his wife on the 18th of September!!

He made the appointment for us to give notice at the registry office, there in Loughborough, on 23rd of August (so, that's a week from this Monday that's coming up).  I'm so excited....as well as relieved.

Thanks again to everyone who has been so helpful in giving me info since I joined UKY.  And, thanks just for the friendly support.  I really appreciate it!   

[size=8]YAY again![/size]

Yay! I love stories where things work out without a hitch! Congratulations, songmistress! That's fabulous news!