Refurbished register office at Hanley Town Hall opens doors to love-struck couples
BRIDES-TO-BE and their future husbands had a chance to view a newly refurbished register office.
Hanley Town Hall hosted an open day yesterday following the £14,400 redecoration of its two ceremony rooms.
The rooms, which previously looked dated, now have new curtains, carpets, furniture and a fresh paint job in keeping with modern tastes.
Brides and grooms have a choice between the larger Bennett Room, which seats up to 70 people, and the smaller Mitchell Room, which has space for 20 guests.
Hotpoint HUE61P
60cm electric double oven
Ceramic Hob
Timer
AA rated
ONLY 459.90 and thats delivered Fast & free rom our vast warehouse stocks
Why not visit our Longton cooker centre for a look
Terms:
The best deal is on your doorstep - only condition is you have to be prepaired to shop locally, supporting a local firm and live within 25 miles of one of our branches
How good is that?
Contact: 01782 342609
Valid until: Sunday, June 02 2013
The rooms were officially re-opened at the event by Stoke-on-Trent's Lord Mayor Terry Crowe.
Officers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council hope the refurbishment will attract more couples looking to tie the knot.
Caroline Casey, an operations officer, said: "More people are choosing to get married away from churches, and the register office is a much more reasonable option than approved premises.
"Originally, we just used one large room for weddings.
"The decor was very dated, as it hadn't been refurbished for many years, and it just wasn't very attractive and not very appropriate for a couple's big day.
"But now it looks much better. It has been re-decorated in neutral colours, such as gold, which will go with the sort of colours that brides and bridesmaids wear these days.
"We've also refurbished a second, smaller room, which wasn't being used before, and hadn't had any work done on it since the 1960s.
"This room sits up to 20 people, so it will be suitable for smaller ceremonies.
"Both rooms have beautiful original features, such as the marble fire places and the windows."
The number of weddings held at Hanley Town Hall increased from 366 in 2010 to 420 in 2011.
So far this year, there have been 284 ceremonies, with another 110 booked between September to December.
Melanie Thrasher and Adrian Ashman, who will be getting married at the register office on September 22, were among the couples who attended the open day.
Adrian, aged 47, from Middleport, said: "We thought the rooms looked very nice.
"We came to view the register office before the refurbishment and it wasn't as good. But now it looks much more modern."
Charlene Whitlow and Steven Ford, aged 27, from Whiston, near Cheadle, will also be getting married at the register office.
Charlene, aged 29, said: "We really like how it looks now. Steven's nan got married here years ago, and he says it looks a lot better now. I really like the colours."
As well as weddings, the two rooms are available to be used for a variety of other ceremonies, including civil partnerships, citizenship ceremonies, naming ceremonies, renewal of vows and commitment ceremonies.
Comments
by rubythursday
Monday, September 10 2012, 6:28PM
“why are the council spending OUR money refurbishing property which it intends to sell as part of the plans for a sity sentre?
we pay mr vanguard de larschot £156,0000 a year to make such decisions which anyone with an ounce of common sense can see is a waste. exactly the same has been done in stoke and now the buildings are set to be redundant.
sheer lunacy”
by DJofTNE
Monday, September 10 2012, 12:16PM
“classy”
by Focus386
Monday, September 10 2012, 11:53AM
“This another one from sotcc with evidence of no joined up thinking. They have just spent lots of money doing up these rooms as they looked dated. Aren't these rooms in the very same building that the council wants to sell off when it moves their head quarters ??
They will be decorating the civic in Stoke soon just before they move out.”