ALDEN George Reid and Heather Karen Tune on Wednesday were the first to get married under the Registrar General Department’s new Registry Wedding service in Western Jamaica.

“We don’t have anything against a church, but we wanted something simple with a few family and friends,” Reid told the Observer.

He was born in Jamaica but spent 37 years in England before returning home three months ago with his wife and children.

The wedding ceremony lasted for about an hour and was witnessed by about 15 close friends and family members, including the couple’s two children, five year old Elizabeth and four year old Alexander.

While it is new to the western end of the island, the Registry Wedding service had been in operation at the RGD’s Twickenham Park office in St Catherine for the last year and a half.

“We expect that it will be a fairly successful service (in Western Jamaica),” chief executive officer of the RGD’s western office, Dawn Douglas told the Observer after the historic wedding.

She said over 300 persons had used the service at the Twickenham Park office since it started in June 1999.

Through the Registry Wedding, couples can pay a fee of $3,000 and have their wedding performed at the office of the RGD. The fee also covers the cost of a certified copy of the marriage, which Douglas said would be presented within “two to three days”.

Meanwhile, Douglas said the RGD has expanded the range of services in western Jamaica to include the application of deed polls and an express service for certain types of certificates.

Persons who may not have been registered or who did not have the name of a parent on their birth certificate can now apply for a deed poll in Montego Bay.

Previously, such persons had to apply for the service in St Catherine, through the Island’s Record Office Unit. Drafting of the document costs $3000. In addition, persons were expected to pay the necessary recording fees.

Persons can now also get copies of birth, death and marriage certificates within 24 hours, unlike previously where they had to wait up to two weeks for the service.