Martyn's Law for wedding and event venues

KEY POINTS

Wedding and event venues are usually covered under Schedule 1 as venues for hire, hotels, restaurants or visitor attractions, if 200 or more people, including staff and suppliers, can reasonably be expected at once, from time to time.
Your tier depends on your busiest predictable events, not your typical wedding. A venue that reaches 800 or more even once a year on a planned basis is likely to be enhanced tier.
A private, invitation-only wedding is not a qualifying event. But if your venue is already in scope, it stays in scope during private hires, and you remain the responsible person.
Couples, planners and suppliers do not take over your duty. Set out what you expect of them in your hire terms and briefings.
Marquees and grounds used with a building form part of the premises. Plan procedures that work outdoors, where invacuation and lockdown may be limited.

The short answer

Martyn's Law, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, covers premises used for listed purposes where 200 or more people can reasonably be expected to be present at the same time, from time to time. Wedding and event venues usually fall under one or more of the listed uses: a venue for hire for events or activities, a hotel, a restaurant or bar, or a visitor attraction such as a stately home.

At 200 to 799 people, a venue is standard tier: notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and have procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication, so far as reasonably practicable. At 800 or more, it is enhanced tier, with documented public protection measures, a compliance document provided to the SIA and, for organisations, a designated senior individual. The duties are expected to start in spring 2027.

The questions that make wedding and event venues different are how to count when every event is different, how private hire is treated, and who is responsible when hirers bring in their own planners and suppliers.

Is your venue in scope?

Schedule 1 to the Act lists the uses that count. For venues, the relevant entries are usually:

Halls etc: use as a venue for hire for events or activities, an exhibition hall or a conference centre, "where the events, activities, exhibits or conferences are principally for the benefit of visiting members of the public".
Hotels etc: use as a hotel, hostel or holiday park. The guidance's example of a hotel with a conference centre and restaurant treats the hotel as the principal use, so the hotel operator is responsible for the whole.
Food and drink: a restaurant, bar or café where food or drink is mainly consumed on site by visiting members of the public.
Visitor attractions: a site of cultural, historic, touristic or educational value, such as a stately home or castle open to visitors.

Schedule 1 also says it is irrelevant that access is limited to people who have paid, hold tickets or passes, or are members or guests of a club. Limiting entry does not, by itself, take premises out of scope.

Grey area: the statutory guidance does not directly address a venue used only for invitation-only private functions and never open to the public in any other way. Most venues also host wedding fairs, open days, ticketed nights, restaurant service or overnight guests, which are clearly public uses. If you believe your venue is outside scope on this basis, check the latest Home Office and SIA guidance, record your reasoning and consider taking advice.

Premises also have to be wholly or mainly used for listed purposes. A private house that hosts a handful of events a year is unlikely to be qualifying premises, although a large public event there could still be a qualifying event. See qualifying premises explained.

Counting people when every event is different

The test is the greatest number of people you can reasonably expect at the same time, from time to time. The guidance says "from time to time" means occasionally, with a degree of predictability. Look at your calendar for the coming year and your booking records for the last few, not an average.

Count everyone in connection with the use of the venue. The guidance says staff means all those working at the premises or event, "whether as employees, contractors, volunteers or otherwise". At a wedding, that includes your own team, caterers, bar staff, the band or DJ, photographers, florists still on site, and security.

Illustrative venue	Likely position
Barn venue, weddings of 80 to 150 guests plus up to 30 staff and suppliers, nothing larger	Out of scope on these figures. Keep your records and review if bookings change.
Country house hotel, weddings of up to 180 guests plus 40 staff and suppliers on the busiest days	Standard tier, because 220 people are present at peak on predictable occasions.
Events venue, usually 300 to 500, plus an annual summer party night of 900 including staff	Likely enhanced tier. The guidance says reaching 800 occasionally, for example once a year, is enough.
Standard tier venue hired for a one-off public ticketed festival of 1,000 that will not be repeated	The venue stays standard tier. The festival is likely a qualifying event for its duration.

Where numbers vary significantly from one time to another, the guidance says it may be appropriate for procedures to vary too. A venue with 60 people at a weekday lunch and 400 at a Saturday wedding can scale its arrangements, as long as each is suitable. Our guide on how to calculate capacity explains acceptable methods, and the free tier checker gives a quick first view.

Private hire, public events and qualifying events

This is the area venues most often get wrong, because two different tests are at work.

The qualifying event test applies to events of 800 or more at premises that are not already enhanced tier. One of the criteria is that members of the public can attend. The guidance says events are not qualifying events where entry is "private or personal to the attendees", and gives the example of "relatives and friends invited to a wedding reception". A guest-list corporate event is treated the same way. So a 900-guest private wedding on an estate that is otherwise out of scope is not a qualifying event.

The premises test is different. Paragraph 5.14 of the guidance says that where private events take place at premises that are already in scope, such as hotels, the premises remain in scope, and control does not pass to the organiser of the private event. In the guidance's example, a company holding a 900-person networking event at an enhanced tier hotel does not become responsible. The hotel does.

Scenario	Who is responsible
Private wedding at your standard or enhanced tier venue	You, as the venue's responsible person
Public ticketed event of under 800 at your standard tier venue	You, as the venue's responsible person
Public ticketed event of 800 or more at your standard tier venue, organiser takes control	The organiser, for the event. You remain responsible for the rest of the premises and must co-ordinate
Any event at your enhanced tier venue	You. Events at enhanced tier premises are not separate qualifying events
Invitation-only event of 800 or more at a site otherwise out of scope	Not in scope as a qualifying event

The guidance's stately home example shows the qualifying event case: a private company hires part of a standard tier stately home's grounds for a one-off food festival that meets the criteria. The company is responsible for the part used for the event. The stately home operator stays responsible for the rest, and for the whole site outside the event. See qualifying events for all six criteria.

Couples, planners and suppliers

When qualifying premises are hired out, the guidance says the responsible person stays the same and keeps oversight. You cannot delegate your legal responsibility to a planner, caterer or security contractor, although you can delegate tasks. If the SIA asks, you must be able to show that you clearly set out your requirements to the hirer and took reasonable steps to make sure they were followed.

In practice, that means adding a short section to your hire terms and event planning process:

Name a lead contact for the hirer's side, such as the planner or a nominated family member, who will receive a short briefing.
Ask for final numbers, including all suppliers, and tell the hirer you need to know if numbers rise significantly.
Give external suppliers a one-page briefing: exits, the signal to stop, where to go, who to follow and how to report something suspicious.
Make sure bands, DJs and toastmasters know they may be asked to stop and pass on a message over their microphone.
Agree whose staff lead in an incident. It should be your duty manager, not the hirer.

Large external organisers who take control of your venue for a public qualifying event are a different case. They become responsible for the event, and the Act requires you and them to co-ordinate, so far as reasonably practicable. Agree in writing who controls which areas and how the two sets of procedures fit together. Our conference and events venues and hotels pages cover these settings.

Marquees, grounds and outdoor ceremonies

The Act defines premises as a building, or a building and other land. The guidance gives "a hotel with grounds that are used by guests and the public, and a stately home and garden" as examples of a building with other land. A lawn ceremony, a courtyard drinks reception or a marquee in the grounds is part of your premises, and the people there count towards your figure.

For qualifying events, the guidance says temporary structures with their own entry checks may each need to be assessed separately against the event criteria. For a venue's own premises, the simpler approach is to treat the marquee as part of the site and plan for it.

Outdoor spaces change what is possible:

Invacuation: a marquee offers little protection. Decide whether guests could move into the main building, and whether it can take them. If not, evacuation away from danger may be the main option. The guidance says it can help to record why a procedure is not appropriate, giving the example of a firework display with no internal areas.
Lockdown: you may not be able to secure a marquee, but you may be able to secure the house, barn or reception building nearby.
Evacuation: check routes from the marquee and grounds avoid pinch points, and that people are told to move away and disperse, not gather at a fire assembly point near the danger.
Communication: outdoor noise and amplified music make alerts harder. Plan who cuts the music and how instructions reach the far end of the site.

Our guides to evacuation and communication go into each option.

Practical procedures for events teams

Events teams already run detailed function sheets. The simplest approach is to build Martyn's Law into them.

Write venue-wide procedures once: evacuation routes from each space, safer areas inside, how each external door is secured, and the alert phrase.
Add a short security section to every function sheet: expected peak numbers including suppliers, spaces in use, the duty manager, and which safer areas and exits apply.
Brief your own team at the pre-event meeting, including casual and agency staff, and record the briefing.
Give the hirer's lead contact and key suppliers their one-page briefing on arrival.
Agree who stops the music or speeches and makes the announcement, and test that the microphone or PA reaches outdoor areas.
After large or unusual events, note anything that would change your procedures next time.
Review your procedures at least once a year, and whenever you add a new space, a marquee site or a new type of event.

At the standard tier there is no legal requirement to write procedures down, but the guidance says the responsible person should record them, and it may be hard to show compliance otherwise. Enhanced tier venues must prepare a compliance document. See record keeping and evidence.

Common mistakes and next steps

Counting guests but not staff, suppliers, bands and photographers.
Using the typical wedding size instead of the busiest predictable event.
Assuming private hire takes an in-scope venue out of scope, or that the couple or planner becomes responsible.
Treating a regular annual 800-plus event as a one-off. A predictable yearly event is likely to put the venue in the enhanced tier.
Planning procedures for the main building only and forgetting the marquee, grounds and car park approaches.
Forgetting to notify the SIA. Under the notification regulations, existing premises will have three months from commencement, and changes must be notified within 28 days.

Start with your events calendar and work out your peak. Then agree your procedures, update your hire terms and add a security section to your function sheets before the duties start. Our packs include venue procedures, a hirer briefing sheet and a supplier briefing card you can adapt. For venues likely to be enhanced tier, our enhanced tier page explains how we can introduce a specialist.

Frequently asked questions

Does Martyn's Law apply to wedding venues?

Usually, if 200 or more people, including staff and suppliers, can reasonably be expected at the same time, from time to time. Wedding venues normally fall under listed uses such as venues for hire, hotels, restaurants or visitor attractions.

Is a private wedding a qualifying event?

No. The statutory guidance says events where entry is restricted to invited relatives and friends, such as a wedding reception, are not publicly accessible and so are not qualifying events. But if the venue itself is in scope, it stays in scope during the wedding.

Who is responsible during a wedding: the venue or the couple?

The venue. When qualifying premises are hired out, the responsible person stays the same. You should explain your requirements to the hirer and set out what you expect of them and their suppliers.

Do caterers, bands and photographers count in our numbers?

Yes. The guidance defines staff as everyone working at the premises or event, including contractors. Include suppliers who are on site at your peak.

We hold one big public event a year. Does that make us enhanced tier?

It can. The guidance says the enhanced tier applies if 800 or more people are reasonably expected occasionally, for example once a year. A genuine one-off of 800 or more is more likely to be a qualifying event instead.

Sources

General information based on the Act and published guidance, not legal advice. Check the official statutory guidance on GOV.UK for your situation.