Wedding fever at Hackney Town Hall as delighted staff celebrate post-pandemic boom

Newlyweds Cecilie Anna Hebsgaard and Ny-Tarshka Clarke-Williamson. Photograph: Julia Gregory

If you spot a wedding celebration on the steps of Hackney Town Hall during the next half-term, chances are a teacher has just got married.

Hackney’s superintendent registrar and ceremonies manager Lezma Allison said that one thing you learn about weddings is that certain times of year are more popular with those in teaching.

Wedding season is traditionally seen as spring to the end of summer, but Allison said autumn and winter bookings are ramping up at council venues.

She said the numbers of weddings and civil partnerships have recovered from the cancellations enforced by lockdown.

She has worked with the council’s weddings team for 37 years and said the last few years were a challenge because of the pandemic.

In 2019, there were 52 civil partnerships and 1,219 weddings.

The following year this dropped to 77 civil partnerships and just 427 weddings, with the lockdown imposed in March.

In the three weeks before the lockdown, they officiated at 28 weddings in a race against the pandemic.

Couples only have authority to get married at one specific venue within 12 months, so priority was given to those whose paperwork was due to expire.

Staff concentrated on registering Covid deaths and were some of the few people working at the Town Hall, in isolation and distanced from each other.

In June 2020, wedding ceremonies could resume, but couples were advised against receptions, and they were only allowed socially-distanced ceremonies with a cap of 30 people.

Face masks also featured, and there was a barrier between the registrar and the couple.

Restrictions included hand-washing before and after the exchange of rings, and people were encouraged not to include singing at their ceremonies.

The government advised against receptions and only for up to six people outdoors or two households indoors if couples opted for one.

Hackney Council was also having to contend with the fallout of a criminal cyber attack which affected its services.

All wedding restrictions were dropped in June 2021 and Hackney registered 136 civil partnerships and 1,327 that year.

Even then, buffets were banned at receptions and only six people could sit at a table.

In 2022, the council registration team saw the first “normal” year since the pandemic.

Hackney’s superintendent registrar Lezma Allison. Photograph: Julia Gregory

Three years after lockdown, on a Friday in late August, the registrars at Hackney Town Hall performed eight ceremonies.

Some were couples keen to get the legal ceremony and paperwork done before saying their vows overseas, whilst others bring in elaborate flower arrangements to decorate the atrium, which can accommodate more guests.

There are wedding parties with guests dressed up in dinner jackets and sequined dresses, and others with show-stopping hats. Some couples tie the knot in jeans and others opt for the minimum number of witnesses.

Newlyweds Cecilie Anna Hebsgaard and Ny-Tarshka Clarke-Williamson are planning another ceremony to say their vows after an event for family at the Town Hall.

They plan to jet off for this part of their celebration but explained that at their secret venue, timetables for some red tape made it less practical.

Clarke-Williamson said they opted instead for Hackney Town Hall as “we did not want a religious ceremony. The Town Hall was the most obvious choice.”

They said they experienced a warm welcome at the 1937 Grade II-listed building.

Hebsgaard said: “It’s really nice, we did not know what to expect.”

The couple met just before the pandemic and were thrilled to celebrate with family and without the restrictions imposed by Covid.

The Town Hall also provided an elegant backdrop for photos by Rico Maynard, who said he has seen a difference in the size of weddings post-pandemic.

Allison said it was a joy when the first ceremonies could be held after the misery of the pandemic and to put the days of lockdown in the past.

The council employs a team of 16 people to officiate at weddings and they can perform up to 30 on busy Saturdays.

Along with venues including the Lanchester and Lodge suites – named after the Town Hall architects – people can opt for a ceremony in rooms including the council chamber, the north or south atrium, or the assembly hall for a bigger function for up to 400 guests.

Other council-run venues include Clissold Park and Stoke Newington Town Hall, and there are plans to offer weddings at Abney Park.

Allison recalled having to constantly update the website as Covid rules changed. They also had to work out safe capacities for venues, along with arranging regular Covid tests for staff. Guests also had to get tested.

“Couples had the choice of removing their masks for the vows and declaration,” she said.

Staff wore gloves and the rooms were cleaned after each ceremony.

“We were happy when we did ceremonies again,” she recalled, but said there was some anxiety about keeping events safe.

Among the couples she married post-lockdown was someone whose birth she had registered.

Weddings have also changed, said Allison.

“What we are finding is that a lot of couples are having the statutory legal ceremony here. Sometimes they have the ceremony here on a weekday and have a blessing in another country.”

And the wedding season has extended.

“Our quiet period used to be from October. That’s not the case. We are booked right out every single Saturday.”

She loves the variety of weddings in Hackney, welcoming people from the diverse cultures who make up the borough.

“People want to look back on their wedding day with really fond memories,” she said.