Selfridges granted licence to host weddings

The weddings will take start being hosted by Selfridges in the summer

Couples will soon be able to get married in Selfridges as the central London department store has been granted a licence to host weddings.

The Oxford Street store has created a wedding suite on the fourth floor of the Grade II-listed building.

The Treehouse, Dilly and Bulgari hotels have also been granted wedding licences this year as has Bateaux London, a fine dining boat experience.

The former base of the London Scottish Regiment can also host ceremonies.

It is hoped these venues can help clear the backlog of weddings created due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the UK Weddings Taskforce, last year 220,000 weddings did not go ahead and about 100,000 for the first six months of this year have been cancelled.

Wedding planner Sarah Haywood, from the taskforce, said they expected more than 800,000 weddings would be held within the first two years once all restrictions were lifted.

From next week, up to 30 people will be allowed to attend a wedding.

It's been a very difficult time for wedding venues, caterers and florists

"There is a huge backlog of weddings when we are eventually allowed to fully reopen and there will no doubt be the demand," said Ms Haywood.

"Our sector respects the right of couples to have as much choice as possible as to where and how they get married and we welcome Westminster City Council's decision to grant one of the most famous department stores in the world a wedding licence."

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Historian Lindy Woodhead, whose book Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge was made into a popular drama series on ITV, said the wedding idea was a "rather sweet one in many ways".

"The store is a glorious location and the bride/groom can get pampered on site and the store can do the flowers and the restaurant provide all sorts of food and drinks so - if budget permits and they can find a registrar or vicar who supports it - why not?"

Weddings - a new way to shop?

From a historical perspective, Ms Woodhead said she thinks founder Harry Gordon Selfridge would have nodded his head in approval as he loved putting on a show.

"Had the laws permitted a retailer to hold a wedding back in his tenure (1909-1939) he would have done so. He certainly loved a party."

Alison Cathcart, superintendent registrar at Westminster City Council, said they were delighted to have another venue to provide more choice for couples and to also help with the backlog as a result of Covid.

"In Westminster we're lucky we can offer destination weddings so it's about offering a choice, and offering another option that's interesting and different," she said.

Selfridges has been added to Historic England's National Heritage List

Rebecca Warburton, Selfridges director of events and customer experiences, said: "Bringing together some of our amazing experiences, we can't wait to create custom packages in celebration of people's love for each other."

The offering comes as the department store tries to recoup losses encountered due to the pandemic. In July it announced its total workforce across its four stores in England would be cut by 14%, with 450 roles closed.

As well as hosting weddings, it intends to offer floristry workshops, pampering sessions, out-of-hours children's parties in the toy department and private screenings at The Cinema at Selfridges.

'Bad business sense'

Selfridges and the wider retail industry are not the only ones financially struggling due to the pandemic. According to Ms Haywood, the wedding sector has been "utterly decimated" as it has not been able to trade in a "commercially viable way" since the first lockdown.

"We feel left behind given that from next week other indoor events can go ahead at a socially distanced capacity to a maximum 1,000 guests, but weddings are limited to just 30 - which is not commercially viable," she said.

"Given the success of the vaccine rollout and the ability to test every worker and guest's Covid status prior to the event, it makes bad business sense to continue to restrict the activities of our sector."

The government has been approached for comment.