A north Norfolk venue offering couples the chance to tie the knot by the sea is taking bookings for 2021, but only from May unless the ceremony needs to done urgently.

Cromer Town Council has been making North Lodge Park in the seaside town available for "weddings by the sea" since 2001, when it hosted 20 ceremonies.

%image(14529473, type="article-full", alt="Cromer Town council has been making North Lodge Park, in the seaside town available for "weddings by the sea" since 2001.")

Since then, the popularity of the venue, which also serves as the council offices, has fluctuated but in 2019/20 it hosted a record number of events, welcoming 38 couples, some who had ceremonies in the chamber or outside.

As with many locations, the number of events North Lodge Park has hosted in 2020/21 has been reduced because of coronavirus restrictions.

Now, the council is taking bookings for next year, but due to a large number of ceremonies being carried over to the new year and huge demand on registrars to oversee the ceremonies, bookings can only be made for after May, unless the event is urgent.

Janet Warner, the deputy clerk of Cromer Town Council, said North Lodge Park was a popular venue with locals and visitors alike.

She said: "We get a lot of people from the midlands and London, people who will have been here on holiday, seen North Lodge and want to come back and get married.

"Prior to coronavirus 2019/20 was a record year for bookings."

Ms Warner said due to North Lodge Park's small size, it could only accommodate 40 people, which had needed to be reduced further for socially distanced ceremonies, however in the warmer months ceremonies could be held outside.

She said: "In the summer the outdoor ceremonies are very popular because people can do the whole ceremony outside on the cliff top gardens."

Mr Warner said the council had hosted 12 ceremonies in North Lodge Park under coronavirus restrictions and already had eight in the diary for the new year.

"We still have availability for ceremonies for 2021 and 2022 but this is very much dependent on the availability of the registrars to come out to North Lodge to conduct the ceremonies," she said.