Religious marriages

Church of England or Church in Wales

Providing you are both British, EU or Swiss nationals and you are planning to marry in the Church of England or Wales, you should contact the vicar for advice on the legal requirements for marriage and fees.

If either party is a national of a country outside of the EU, you will need to give notice of marriage.

Weddings at other religious buildings

If you are planning to marry in a church or religious building (that is not the Church of England or Church in Wales):

• Arrange to see the person in charge of marriages at the building.
• At least one half of the couple must live in the same local authority area as the church or religious building.
• Give notices of marriage.
• Arrange for a registrar to be present at the ceremony. Please note that many churches and religious buildings appoint their own registrars called ‘authorised persons’ to be present at your ceremony.  If an authorised person is not present you will need to book a registrar from the Register Office.

You can only be married in a church in a different local authority area from where you both live if:

• One or both parties usually worship in that building.
• There is no church of your religion in the district where you or the person you are marrying lives.

Signing the marriage register

The marriage register is signed at the end of the ceremony by the couple, witnesses, vicar or minister and the registrar/authorised person, if present.

It’s important that you read all information recorded, including all spellings, carefully before signing.  Any requests to change or update information will be subject to a charge of £90. In some cases it will not be possible to change information recorded.