Waltham Forest Register Office at Walthamstow Library

I can’t quite believe what I witnessed and was subjected to at Waltham Forest registry today. I was photographing my last wedding of the year. On the day Sadiq Khan declares the city of London is in a state of emergency due to the levels of covid , the registrar at the registry office would not let us have a door open in the small ceremony room because “she was cold”. The door to the room was just opening out to a little lobby, not even to the outside.I asked several times explaining that ventilation is important in these times. She refused. She was unmasked (maybe she was exempt , in which case, fine) but felt like she was going out of her way to go against the advice and basic common sense. It felt really weird. She was adamant that all doors were shut.There were 30 of us in a small tight , very warm , unventilated room. Elderly people and pregnant ladies. I opened the outside door while we waited for the bride and the registrar shut it in my face and bolted it. I was told they were within their guidelines and bthat I didn’t realise how cold she’d been all day.I said that her body temperature was not as important as peoples lives.When i mentioned to the second registrar that we were in a pandemic and that we should keep the room ventilated, I was told that we’d been in a pandemic for a while and it wasn’t their usual protocol to keep a door open!!! I suggested we should open a window - I was told they did not open.I felt very uncomfortable , not wanting to make a fuss on someone’s wedding day but could not believe the lack of care and responsibility shown by the staff.The actions of this rude and incompetent woman could cost lives.After the ceremony I returned to politely tell her that her actions and behaviour were really irresponsible. She again looked at me and said she’d been cold all day. I’m speechless!!!!

Closed due to coronavirus. Appointments only.One of the oldest. Since 1883 and office for current services since 1924.

The office itself is lovely with a beautiful garden, however the whole ceremony was ruined by the rudness of the the lady registrar, as she was extremely rude with us before and after the ceremony. We were made to feel very uncomfortable and rushed, as they were running late. English is not our first language, however we speak and understand it well, I even have a degree in English linguistics, however she made it very clear that its an issue for her, as she commented to one of our British guests that at least one of us speaks English. The ceremony was ruined by purely her rudness. Its a shame as the office itself is very nice and the rest of the staff were welcoming

The worst experience EVER!!!! avoid this place at all cost!!! the registrar Sharon was very rude and unwelcoming, made the whole experience very uncomfortable on what is meant to be your special day. She should not be working in such a place if she cannot even have the very basic manners and respect for people on there own wedding day. If it wasn’t for the fact that I paid £177 I would have walked out.

We got married here on 2nd of February! The registrars made our ceremony super special. We could not ask for better. A BIG thank you to the whole team.

Terrible experience with WF Registry Office - would give 0 stars if I could.We had absolutely zero guidance or advice in the run up to our wedding in May, and I ended up having to chase via phone and email in the days before our ceremony to get any information about the day.The registrar was unbelievably rude on the day, and was completely unprepared for us reading our own vows and playing our own music, treating us as if this was our fault, despite the fact that they did not follow their own protocol to call 2 weeks before the ceremony to gather the information.He treated us as if we were an inconvenience throughout the entire ceremony, making my mum cry with his rudeness, which is absolutely not what we wanted or expected on our wedding day!To make matters worse, we had to chase continually for 5 months to receive a part refund that we were told we should receive automatically before the ceremony. Wished we'd have got married elsewhere.

Lovely venue and great garden. Staff very professional on the day of my wedding registry. Eventhough to be honest some of the reception staff which I have dealt with previously do need a little customer care training. Very moody and unhelpful .Otherwise would have been 5 star rating. Overall good

Tried to register notice for marriage, took 30mins to take all my details down then when we were getting ready to pay for booking I was cut off, subsequently spoke to three other members of staff who all cut me off. After nine calls still unable to sort this out.

Booked and paid in advance to register our vows 2 months ago taking time off work. They let us know with an hour to spare after we left that they aren't actually open today and I have to rebook.

Sonia the registrar was amazing! She was really flexible and lovely and put our needs first. She's very experienced, professional and welcoming. I'm really glad she did our ceremony. It wouldn't have been the same without her - and we're really grateful we had her as our registrar. :)