RECORD numbers of couples are tying the knot in Somerset and now more people are needed by the Registry Team to help keep pace with the wedding ceremonies.


With over 2,000 marriages, 2015 was a record year for the Somerset County Council’s service and a 15 per cent increase on the previous year. And as 2016 looks like being another bumper year, the Registry Team needs more Ceremony Officers to help cope with demand.


The council is staging a special recruitment open day later this month at the Old Municipal Building in Taunton, a landmark venue that saw a 24 per cent increase in weddings from 2014 to 2015.


It is looking for people who are confident public speakers, enjoy dealing with the public and are able to travel independently across the county.


Somerset is becoming an increasingly popular destination for couples wanting to get married, with licensed venues including hotels, traditional stately homes, art galleries, converted barns, cosy country pubs, a museum, underground caves, a castle – and even a century’s old village lock-up for drunks.


There’s also been a sharp rise in couples choosing to have vow renewals or Eternity ceremonies as they are often known.


Similarly, families with new babies or a newly adopted child are choosing to have Welcome ceremonies in place of a traditional religious baptism, and while both these types of ceremony hold no forms of legal implications, they are conducted by council led Ceremony Officers.