Hall to take over as central site for wedding ceremonies

After lengthy discussions, it has decided to move from the recently refurbished Ceremony Suite in historic Somerset House, and relocate the ceremonies to Spring Hall, Skircoat.

At present the Registrar's department is split between two sites, the Registrar's office at Spring Hall and the Ceremony Suite at Somerset House.

This has proved difficult to manage for registrars, and has occasionally caused confusion with the public about where each function is carried out.

The council is also hoping to reduce costs and believes that this will be achieved by carrying out all the registrar's functions on one site.

To achieve this the council has handed over the day-to-day management of the suite at Somerset House to Chris Turczak of Tyler Projects (Halifax) Ltd, which redeveloped one of Yorkshire's finest Georgian mansions.

Mr Turczak will continue to operate the Ceremony Suite alongside his successful Le Metro brasserie.

This will allow his premises to expand its activities, and the council to consolidate the registrar's department.

The council is looking to fully relocate to Spring Hall by February 2011.

All existing ceremonies booked at Somerset House will go ahead as originally planned.

Mr Turczak said: "Following the success and national awards achieved over the past two years I am looking forward to this new period and the opportunity to expand and further promote the future success of Somerset House.

"We will continue to offer facilities for ceremonies in the stunning Grand Salon and the council's relocation will not affect any existing bookings."

Coun David O'Neill, Calderdale Council's portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities added: "Somerset House has provided a beautiful backdrop for weddings, civil partnerships and naming ceremonies.

"However, in the public interest, we feel obligated to make every effort to ensure the customer's special day meets their high expectations."