Marriage service toasts second award

Above: Councillor Jill Rhodes (front row second from left), Cheshire East Council cabinet member for corporate services, with members of the council’s successful registrations service. 

Cheshire’s East Council’s marriage service has been voted ‘best in the north-west’ for the second year running.

Against tough competition, the registration service wowed the judges at the North West Wedding Awards held at The Mere Golf Resort and Spa, near Knutsford hosted by County Brides Magazine.

The service, which registers births, marriages and deaths and conducts marriage ceremonies, collected the award for best ceremony provider for its civil ceremonies.

The award recognises the quality of service provided in the wide range of romantic, licensed locations across the borough where a record 1,760 ceremonies were carried out between March 2018 and April 2019.

Including register office marriages, the service conducts more than 2,000 ceremonies a year at more than 80 approved venues, including some of the finest country hotels in the UK. It helps to deliver around £32m to the rural economy and, already, almost 1,700 ceremonies are scheduled for the forthcoming year.

Seventy per cent of couples who tie the knot in Cheshire East live outside the borough suggesting that Cheshire East is becoming more and more popular for its registration service and the range of appealing venues.

Councillor Jill Rhodes, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for public health and corporate services, said: “To win the same award twice in a row is a fantastic achievement for our team who, I know, work tirelessly to deliver a seamless service, helping to make the most important day in a couple’s life a day to remember.

“I want to congratulate them on this award and thank them for all their hard work in helping to maintain the high standards of service we aim for in Cheshire East.”

Julie Hobson, a superintendent registrar, said: “Cheshire East has many splendid wedding venues and our team of registrars go that extra mile to deliver a seamless ceremony so that couples have a day to treasure all their lives.”