Looking for a chic wedding venue? Try a town hall 

THE GROOM wore a Giorgio Armani suit. The bride wore a short white dress by Vivienne Westwood with her signature black sunglasses. This summer Charli XCX married George Daniel, the drummer of The 1975, a chart-topping band, at Hackney Town Hall in London. Their nuptials reflected her devil-may-care vibe: the newlyweds posed for pictures on the steps of the public building (pictured above) before decamping to a nearby restaurant to smoke cigarettes and drink cocktails.

The event also reflected a growing trend: many couples, turned off by the ostentation of a big wedding, are heading to town halls instead. (Though few will get the chance to celebrate a second time as “Mr and Mrs XCX” did, by hosting a rave in Italy.) This year marriages and civil partnerships at two of London’s most popular town halls, Old Marylebone and Islington, have jumped 29% and 51% respectively from pre-pandemic levels. In New York weddings at the Manhattan marriage bureau increased by 22% between 2022 and 2024.

Instead of lavishly designed bouquets, brides can grab something from the local florist. Couples can have their reception at the pub, bake their own cake or take public transport. “There’s just something so chic about getting on the Tube to go to your own wedding,” noted one TikTok user. According to a recent wedding-trends report by Pinterest, an image-sharing platform, searches for “registry-office elopement” were 190% higher in December 2024 than a year earlier.

Town-hall weddings first became properly trendy in the 1970s and 1980s. Sir Mick Jagger, the frontman of the Rolling Stones, got married at a town hall in St Tropez in 1971. Old Marylebone Town Hall has seen more celebrity nuptials than perhaps any other venue in Britain. It has hosted three Beatles weddings—one of Sir Ringo Starr’s and two of Sir Paul McCartney’s—and two Oasis ones (both Liam Gallagher’s).

Small-scale soirées are back in fashion for two reasons. One is price. Weddings in Britain and America cost on average around $30,000, but couples can marry at a courthouse or town hall for as little as $100. Stef Reyes, a wedding photographer in New York, says many couples want to save for the future rather than splurge on a single day.

The other factor is stress. Town-hall nuptials are intimate and quick. According to a survey released this year by the Knot, a wedding-planning website, couples prize authenticity, and want their wedding day to reflect who they are. That may mean a church and all the trimmings for some, but many others prefer a quick trip to the registry office followed by a pint down the road.■