Step one: giving notice — the legal countdown
Before any civil wedding or civil partnership in England & Wales, you each sign a legal statement at a register office saying you intend to marry. That’s “giving notice”, and the rules are exact:
- Live in the district 7 days first. You give notice at the register office for the district where you live, and you must have lived there for the past 7 days. Live in different districts? You each give notice at your own — not necessarily on the same day.
- At least 29 days before the ceremony. GOV.UK’s own example: give notice on 1 May and the earliest you can marry is 30 May. Build this into your venue booking.
- Notice names the venue. You must state the final ceremony venue when you give notice — so book the venue before the appointment.
- Valid for 12 months. Miss the window and you start the whole process (and fees) again.
- The notice fee is set nationally and paid per person at the appointment — your register office confirms the current amount when you book. It’s higher if your notice is referred to the Home Office under immigration rules.
- Bring originals: passport (or UK birth certificate), proof of address (driving licence, recent utility bill, bank statement, Council Tax bill or tenancy), proof of any name change, and — if either of you was married or in a civil partnership before — the decree absolute, final order or former partner’s death certificate.
Church of England & Church in Wales — the banns route
Marrying in an Anglican church usually means you skip register-office notice entirely: banns (a public notice of the marriage) are read in church on three Sundays before the ceremony, and the vicar handles the marriage schedule. Check with the church — and note that if either of you is from outside the UK, the vicar may still send you to the register office to give notice.
If either of you is from outside the UK or Ireland
You usually give notice
together, at a register office in a district where one of you lives, and the office tells the Home Office. If the Home Office decides to investigate the relationship, the wait before you can marry can be extended
up to 70 days. Bring proof of immigration status and a passport photo each. Visa rules depend on your situation — start from the official
GOV.UK guide, never a paid “visa help” site.
Civil partnership? Same machinery
Civil partnerships are open to same-sex and opposite-sex couples, use the same 7-day residency, notice and 12-month rules, and the same venues. The differences: you can’t have a religious ceremony, and no vows are legally required — signing the schedule in front of a registrar and two witnesses is what makes it legal.
What the legal bit actually costs — and what it never should
Statutory fees, England & Wales (ceremony fees current from 6 April 2026, read from GOV.UK this session):
| Item | Cost |
|---|
| Giving notice (each of you) | Nationally set fee per person — confirm with your register office; higher if Home Office–referred |
| Registrar for a ceremony at a register office | £62 |
| Registrar at a registered religious building (non-Anglican, where no authorised person) | £114.50 |
| Ceremony at approved premises (hotels, stately homes) | Set by the venue and council — typically far more; ask before booking |
| Marriage or civil partnership certificate | £12.50 each (same GRO price as birth and death certificates) |
| Document check for a divorce granted outside the UK | £55 (local register office) or £83 (General Register Office) |
Two witnesses are required at every ceremony, the schedule you all sign goes onto the electronic register, and certificates are ordered from the register office afterwards. Buy two or three certificates — banks, HMRC and the Passport Office often want to see one at the same time, and £12.50 now beats waiting on the GRO later (see our certificates guide).
Never pay a website for the free forms
There is no “official wedding admin service”. Sites that charge to “book your notice of marriage”, “prepare your notice documents” or “register your marriage” are reselling a phone call you can make yourself — notice is booked directly with your council’s register office, and nobody else can do it for you because you must attend in person. The same goes for paid name-change packs after the wedding (below). Odd link or text about your booking? Run it through our
scam checker.
Minimum age: 18 — no exceptions in England & Wales
Since 27 February 2023 you must be 18 or over to marry or form a civil partnership in England & Wales — 16–17-year-olds can no longer marry even with parental consent, and arranging a child’s marriage is a criminal offence. If you or someone you know is being pressured into marriage at any age, the Forced Marriage Unit (020 7008 0151) and Karma Nirvana (0800 5999 247) help free and confidentially — call 999 in an emergency.
Scotland & Northern Ireland
Scotland: a different system — each of you submits an
M10 marriage notice form (or CP notice) to the registrar for the district of the ceremony, at least 29 days ahead, and the minimum age is
16 with no parental consent needed. No residency requirement, which is why Gretna Green built an industry. Details on
mygov.scot.
Northern Ireland: its own notice process and fees via the local registrar — see
nidirect. The fees on this page are England & Wales only.
The after-wedding money checklist — what the venue never tells you
The ceremony changes your legal and tax position the moment the schedule is signed. Three of these are worth real money; one protects everything you own:
- Claim Marriage Allowance — £252 a year. If one of you has income under £12,570 and the other pays basic-rate tax, the lower earner can transfer £1,260 of their personal allowance — the higher earner pays £252 less tax every year, and claims can be backdated up to 4 tax years (up to £1,260 as a lump sum). Free 5-minute HMRC claim — our Marriage Allowance guide walks it through.
- Remake your wills — marriage just cancelled them. In England & Wales, getting married or forming a civil partnership generally revokes any existing will unless it was made “in contemplation” of that marriage. Until you write a new one, intestacy rules decide who inherits — see our wills guide (free routes included).
- Change your name free — or don’t change it at all. Your marriage or civil partnership certificate is all the evidence you need: banks, HMRC, DVLA, your GP and the Passport Office accept it directly. No deed poll is needed for taking a spouse’s surname or going double-barrelled with it — and no name-change website deserves a penny (our deed poll guide covers the rare cases where you do need one, also free).
- Passport timing. Want to honeymoon in your new name? You can apply up to 3 months before the wedding for a passport in your married name, using a form your registrar or minister signs — it’s post-dated, so it’s not valid for travel before the ceremony. Otherwise renew afterwards with the certificate at the normal fee (passport guide) — or keep your old name and change nothing. Book flights in the exact name on the passport you’ll travel with.
- Tell the money systems. HMRC (name and marital status), your employer and pension scheme (update death-in-service and pension nominations — they don’t update themselves), insurers (joint home or car cover is often cheaper), and your bank. If either of you claims benefits, you must report the change — couples are assessed together for means-tested benefits like Universal Credit, so do a quick benefits check as a couple to see where you stand.
Do this now
Marrying this year? Book the venue, then book your notice appointments today — the 29-day clock plus registrar diaries fill up months ahead in summer. Order 3 certificates at the ceremony.
Already married? Two free wins tonight: the Marriage Allowance claim (5 minutes, backdatable) and a diary note to sort the will the marriage revoked.