Some people wouldn’t know what to make of a wedding that consists of just the bride, the groom and two witnesses. But many people do get married in this way – and there are definitely advantages to it.

Your wedding day is just that – your day. It does not belong to anyone else but the two of you. Unfortunately a lot of people seem to think that unless they can get involved and organise everything for the happy couple, it is not a perfect wedding.

There are lots of reasons why you might want to keep things as minimal as possible and resort to a registry office wedding with just two witnesses. Some people have strained relationships with a few of their relatives and would not want them to attend the wedding. But it can be difficult to invite some relatives and not others. Having a small wedding like this can solve the problem by keeping it to the minimum required.

Some couples don’t like all the fuss and stress that goes with planning a wedding either. This alone can be enough of a reason to sneak off and plan a simply registry office wedding before announcing it to everyone else afterwards. In fact it has been known for some couples to start planning a big wedding and then arrange for a simple registry office service part way through. They realise that the whole family wants to get in on the planning process and very soon there will be disagreements on who is doing what.

Quite often in this situation the bride and groom feel that they are losing control of planning the wedding – their wedding – altogether. As such it is not surprising that some people decide to wed in secret.

If you are going to do this you still need to have two witnesses to the service. It is usually best to opt for two people whom you know that are independent of both families. Otherwise you will end up with people feeling bitter that you chose one family over another to help you out. Mutual friends are usually the best option.

But one of the main reasons why some couples opt for the simplest of all weddings is quite simply cost. There is no reason why you have to spend thousands of pounds on a wedding if you don’t want to or cannot afford to. Instead you can pare things down to the absolute basics and simply have the most important part of the whole event – the service itself.

If you like the idea of doing this you can always hold a party to celebrate afterwards if you wish. Be prepared to call everyone or send a letter or card explaining that you have just got married, but it’s often best to see your most immediate family members in person if you can.

Most people will understand why you want to marry in private like this. In fact you might even find that some people envy you and wish they had done it like this themselves.

Back to the Wedding Articles

Homepage