At-home registry weddings come to Wellington

31 October 2019

Wellingtonians can now skip the Registry Office and get married in a registry wedding right at home – and everything can be booked easily online!

Earlier this year, Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs, introduced an online service for booking registry weddings, making things easier for New Zealand couples.

In June 2019, registry weddings throughout most of New Zealand moved from Courthouses and Councils, to the comfort of home or another place agreed between the couple and the celebrant.

Jeff Montgomery, Registrar-General Births, Deaths and Marriages says couples can book their registry wedding through Internal Affairs’ marriage services website.

“Couples select from our list of validated celebrants across New Zealand, based on the location they’d like for their ceremony” says Mr Montgomery.

“They can then arrange with their celebrant to have the ceremony at home or a special location, or the celebrant may offer a venue.

“As the expectation for services and information to be available online continues to increase, we're working hard to ensure New Zealanders can access our services when and where they want.

“Our marriage services webpage makes it easy to plan your registry ceremony and get your marriage licence, freeing up more time to plan your future” says Mr Montgomery.

The new registry ceremony will come at the same set cost of $90, and the same rules will apply for the ceremony.

The Wellington registry office will perform ceremonies until 31 January 2020. Registry ceremonies will still be held at Internal Affairs sites in Auckland, Manukau and Christchurch.

To plan your registry-style wedding, or for more information, visit our website, here: Registry ceremonies.

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