The where and how of getting married

By Kate

England and Wales

It is possible to get married in a church or chapel of the Church of England or Church in Wales or in a register office, approved venue or other place of worship. The procedure for getting married in an Anglican Church is slightly different from getting married at any of the other venues. For details on how to get married in the Church of England, see the article FAQ's - Getting married in the Church of England.

If you wish to get married any other way, you will need to give notice of marriage personally to your local superintendent registrar. Phone numbers for these can be found under Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths in your local phone book.

Notice of marriage has to be given personally to your local superintendent registrar(s) at the Register Office in the district in which you and your partner reside. Notice is valid for twelve months. The names of the parties to the marriage, age, marital status, address, occupation nationality and the intended venue for the marriage must be given.

Both of you must have lived in a registration district in England or Wales for at least seven days immediately before giving notice at the register office. If you both live in the same district, you should both attend your local register office together to give your notices of marriage. If you live in different registration districts then each of you will need to give notice separately in your respective district. You must then wait a further sixteen days before the marriage can take place.

(Notice of marriage has recently been changed (Jan. 2001) replacing the previous forms of certificate and licence.)

Marriage at a Register Office or Approved Premises.

Although you need to give notice in person to the superintendent registrar of the district where you are resident, you may marry at any register office or other premises, licensed by the local authority for that purpose, in England or Wales. You will have to contact the superintendent registrar of the district where you wish to marry to arrange the date for your ceremony, and of course make appropriate arrangements with the approved venue of your choice. Your local register office will have a list of approved premises or you can search for one online.

Weddings at register offices or approved premises may not contain any religious content, but it may be possible for you to make arrangements to include non-religious music, readings or poetry.

The minimum number of people who may attend are yourselves and two witnesses.

Please check all this information and your particular circumstances with your local registrar when you come to give notice of marriage.