Giving notice of marriage: appointments, documents and dates

Giving notice of marriage means signing a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to marry. In England and Wales you usually book an appointment, take your documents and venue details, and must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days. Notice must be given at least 29 days before the ceremony, and the ceremony must then take place within 12 months. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, set out below.

Work out your own dates with the notice of marriage date calculator: enter the ceremony date to see the first and last days to give notice, and when you need to be living in the district.

How to give notice of marriage in England and Wales

GOV.UK describes it this way: “You must sign a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to get married or form a civil partnership. This is known as ‘giving notice’.”

The timing rules on the same page are:

• “You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony.”
• “You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of ‘giving notice’.”

GOV.UK gives an example: “if you give notice on 1 May, the earliest date you can get married or form a civil partnership is 30 May.”

You need to have chosen the venue first. GOV.UK says “You must decide where to have your marriage or civil partnership ceremony before ‘giving notice’”, and the statement you sign “must include details of the final venue for your ceremony.”

Church of England and Church in Wales weddings can be different. GOV.UK says “The process of giving notice might be different for Anglican weddings - check with the wedding venue.” The Church of England says “Most Church of England marriages will require banns before the wedding can take place”, and “You must have your banns read out in church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding.”

A worked example

For a wedding on Saturday 14 August 2027 in England or Wales, the calculator gives these dates:

Aiming for the last possible day leaves no room if a document is missing or the office has no appointment free. Booking well inside the window avoids both.

Where to give notice of marriage

In England and Wales, notice is given where you live, not where you marry. GOV.UK says “You usually need to make an appointment to give notice at your local register office. You must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days.” Its register office finder works from your postcode.

If the two of you live in different districts, each of you goes to your own: “You and your partner will need to give notice separately if you live in different registration districts. You do not have to do this on the same day.”

The rule is different if one of you is from outside the UK. GOV.UK says “You and your partner must give notice together”, unless you both have British or Irish citizenship or settled or pre-settled status, and that notice must be given “at a register office in the district where at least one of you lives.”

Booking a notice of marriage appointment

Appointments are booked with the register office itself. GOV.UK does not set a booking method, so the steps, the days on offer and how far ahead you can book are up to each office.

When you book, have these ready:

• the date and venue of the ceremony, since the venue goes on the statement
• whether either of you has been married or in a civil partnership before
• whether either of you is from outside the UK or Ireland, which changes whether you attend together

Documents needed to give notice of marriage

GOV.UK says “You must bring originals of the following documents to your appointment”:

• details of the final venue for your ceremony
• proof of your home address
• proof of any name changes (for example, a copy of a deed poll)
• a valid passport or UK birth certificate

It adds: “If you bring your UK birth certificate and were born after 1 January 1983, you’ll also need evidence of your parents’ nationalities, for example their birth certificates.”

Proof of address can be one of several things, including a “gas, water or electricity bill from the last 3 months”, a “bank or building society statement from the last month”, a “Council Tax bill from the last 12 months” or a “current tenancy agreement”. GOV.UK lists the full set.

If you have been married or in a civil partnership before, you also need “a decree absolute or final order” or “your former partner’s death certificate”. Where a divorce was granted outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, GOV.UK says “You’ll have to pay a fee of £55 for the local register office to check your documents or £83 if the General Register Office needs to check them.”

If either of you is from outside the UK, bring “a passport sized photo for each of you”, “proof of your current immigration status” and “a translation of any documents that are not in English.”

What giving notice costs

GOV.UK’s guide to giving notice does not state the fee for the notice itself, so it is not quoted here. Your register office will tell you the amount when you book, and many councils list it on their register office pages.

The registrar for the ceremony is a separate cost. GOV.UK gives it as “£62 at a register office” and “£114.50 at a registered religious building”, and says “Costs may be different at other approved premises.”

In Northern Ireland, nidirect says “The cost is £22.00 per notice form. Separate notice forms are needed for each person.” In Scotland, National Records of Scotland says “It costs £45 per person to submit notice.”

How long the appointment takes

None of the official pages gives a length for a notice appointment. Ask the register office when you book, and allow extra time if you are giving notice together or have documents that need checking.

What happens after you give notice

In England and Wales, the 29 days start from the day you give notice, and the ceremony must then happen within 12 months.

If either partner needed a visa and gave notice without the right one, GOV.UK says “the immigration authorities at the Home Office will be told.” The Home Office might then “ask questions about you and your relationship - if this happens you may need to wait up to 70 days before getting married or forming a civil partnership”.

After the ceremony, GOV.UK says “Your signed schedule is sent to your local register office where it’s added to the register. After that, you can get your marriage or civil partnership certificate.”

Giving notice of marriage in the rest of the UK

Northern Ireland

Notice goes to the registrar for the district where you marry, not where you live. nidirect says both of you “must send their completed marriage notice forms, relevant documents, declarations and fees to the Registrar of Marriages for the council district where the marriage is to take place”, and “Your marriage notice will be placed on public display at the registrar’s office.”

On timing, nidirect says notice “must be given in the 12-month period before the date of the marriage”, that “Normally, notices should be with the registrar about eight weeks before the marriage”, or 10 weeks if either of you has been married or in a civil partnership before, and that “The minimum period is 28 days before the date of the proposed marriage”. The documents it lists are a “long birth or adoption certificate (full version)” and a “passport”.

Scotland

National Records of Scotland says “The registrar must have your completed notices at least 29 days before the date of your marriage or registration”, and that “It’s helpful to give them your completed notice 10 to 12 weeks in advance”. Each of you completes the M10 marriage notice form and sends it with your birth certificate, “evidence of your usual residence, like a utility bill (not older than 3 months)” and “a valid passport or other document to give evidence of your nationality”. Contact the registration office in the district where you are marrying, which NRS says “will discuss how best to submit your notice forms and documents.”

For a religious or belief ceremony in Scotland, one of you collects the marriage schedule from the registration office “no more than 7 days before your ceremony”.

The calculator works out dates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For Scotland it links to the official page instead, because no official page found gives an earliest date. The directory’s legal and official page lists the government, church and charity guides for all four nations.