Registry office marriages and waiting times

radha

Does anyone know of jurisdictions which generally have shorter periods for getting appointments, wedding dates etc. I'm guessing the HSE doesn't publish waiting periods by region similar to driving tests but perhaps someone has some general info. We have only decided now for practical purposes we will have a civil ceremony here first, as soon as time allows, but are having main wedding ceremony abroad at the end of the year. So we have no attachment or sentiment to a particular area as far as the location of the registry office is concerned.

Also in selecting a wedding date, looking at the opening times for registry offices they all seem to vary individually. Some only open to the public 2/3 days per week so I'm wondering if weddings in these offices are restricted to those days also. If anyone has any inside information I would really appreciate it. Thanks

tatli_lokma

you just need to ring them really. If you have no particular attachment to a specific date or day of the week this increases your chances, as obviously Fridays are the most popular and book up quickly.
When we were applying, drogheda was quicker than Dublin, but getting into the Dublin office for the paperwork was easier for me as I work in Dublin.

Just get the numbers from the phone book, and ring the offices you feel would be accessible to you. The staff are very helpful and will give you all the help and advice you need. Other than the 3 mth notice period, if you can be flexible with the date I don't forsee you having too many problems.

restaurants

radha wrote: »

Does anyone know of jurisdictions which generally have shorter periods for getting appointments, wedding dates etc.

Several hotels now are doing civil weddings. They generally have all the guidelines online.
What part of the country are you located.?

tatli_lokma

restaurants wrote: »

Several hotels now are doing civil weddings. They generally have all the guidelines online.
What part of the country are you located.?

The hotel don'd "do" the wedding, they are just a venue. You still need a registrar from the HSE, so you still need to check with them for availability.
Your local office for births, marriages and deaths is still the first port of call. If there is no registrar available, then you cannot get married anywhere, hotel, registry office or anywhere else.

How Strange

OP, you don't say whereabouts you are in Ireland. We got married in Wicklow and the Wicklow HSE office advised us to go through Dublin as we'd get an appointment with the registrar quicker to register the marriage. They were right, we had our meeting 6 weeks earlier in Dublin than Wicklow.

The best thing is to ring the HSE office nearest you and make an appointment. Then ring other HSE offices and see if they can fit you in quicker and if so cancel your original appointment.

I found the HSE staff so helpful and friendly. They gave us lots of information over the phone and were so nice when we had our face to face meeting.

radha

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Due to a change in cicumstances with some family members now unable to attend the main wedding ceremony we have decided to opt for a small Catholic wedding here also...which is a whole different ball game.

Never the less, if there is an increasing trend for civil ceromonies a national waiting list might be useful for some people. Whether the already stretched HSE could contemplate this is another question.