Giving notice of marriage in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Notice is the legal step before almost every UK wedding. The rules differ in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so here they are side by side.
Before most weddings in the UK, each of you tells the registrar that you intend to marry. In England and Wales this is called giving notice, in Scotland submitting notice. The registrar uses the notice period to check that you are both free to marry. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland your notice is also put on public display.
The legal minimum is about four weeks everywhere in the UK. Registrars in Scotland and Northern Ireland ask for your papers weeks earlier, and a missing document can push your date back.
The rules at a glance
| England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | Register office for the district you live in | Registrar for the district where you marry | Registrar for the council district where you marry |
| Minimum notice | 29 days before the ceremony | 28 full days | 28 days |
| How early | Up to 12 months before | Edinburgh: no more than 3 months before | Up to 12 months before |
| Fee for notice | £46.50 per person | £45 per person | £22 per person |
| Witnesses | At least 2 | 2, aged 16 or over | 2, aged 16 or over |
The England and Wales fee went up from £42 on 6 April 2026, when new national registration fees came in.
England and Wales
When and where
You give notice in person, usually by appointment, at the register office for the district where you have lived for at least the past seven days. If the two of you live in different districts, you each go to your own office; it does not have to be on the same day.
Give notice on 1 May and the earliest wedding date is 30 May. Then you have 12 months from the day you gave notice to hold the ceremony.
You must name your final venue when you give notice, so book the venue first.
What to bring
Bring originals of everything.
| Document | Who needs it |
|---|---|
| Valid passport, or UK birth certificate | Each of you |
| Your parents' birth certificates or other proof of their nationality | Anyone who brings a UK birth certificate and was born after 1 January 1983 |
| Proof of address, such as a UK or Irish driving licence, a utility bill from the last 3 months or a bank statement from the last month | Each of you |
| Decree absolute or final order, or your former partner's death certificate | Anyone who was married or in a civil partnership before |
| Proof of any name change, such as a deed poll | Anyone whose name has changed |
| The name and address of your venue | Both of you |
A divorce granted outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man has to be checked first: £55 if your local office does it, £83 if it goes to the General Register Office.
What the ceremony costs
GOV.UK lists £62 for a registrar at a register office and £114.50 for a registrar at a registered religious building. Most couples pay more. Leeds, for example, charges £118.50 for its basic ceremony (last Monday of the month, two guests) and £695 to £970 for a registrar at a licensed venue in 2026, depending on the day. Leeds includes one marriage certificate in every ceremony fee; extra copies cost £12.50. To see where these fees sit in the whole budget, try our wedding cost calculator.
A civil ceremony can include readings and music, but nothing religious: no hymns and no readings from the Bible or the Torah.
Church of England weddings
GOV.UK warns that notice can work differently for Anglican weddings, so ask the vicar first. Most Church of England weddings go through banns instead of the register office. The banns are read on three Sundays during the three months before the wedding, in the parish where each of you lives and in the church where you marry. You don't need to arrange them until about four months before the date.
In 2026 the Church of England's legal fee is £605 if you both live in the parish where you marry, £664 if one of you lives elsewhere and £723 if you both live in other parishes. Music, bells, flowers and heating come on top.
Other religious weddings, for example in a Catholic church or any other registered religious building, start with the same register office notice as a civil wedding.
Same-sex couples cannot marry in the Church of England. They can marry in another religious building if it is registered for the marriage of same-sex couples, so ask the building before you give notice.
If one of you is from outside the UK
Unless you both have British or Irish citizenship or settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you must give notice together, at a register office where at least one of you lives. The fee for a partner who is not a "relevant national" is £63 instead of £46.50.
Each of you brings a passport-sized photo, proof of the immigration status of whoever is from abroad (for example a share code or a visa), and translations of any documents that are not in English.
A partner coming from abroad usually needs a Marriage Visitor visa or a family visa. You cannot give notice on a Standard Visitor visa. If the Home Office decides to look into your notice, the waiting period can stretch to 70 days, so allow three months.
For an Anglican wedding, a partner from outside the UK and Ireland without EU Settlement Scheme status cannot marry by banns. Unless a Special Licence has been granted, you will need a schedule from the register office, which means giving notice there like everyone else.
Scotland
In Scotland notice is a set of forms. Each of you fills in a marriage notice form (M10), and together you complete the celebrant and witness details form. They go to the registrar for the district where the wedding will take place. Ask that office how to hand them in: Edinburgh, for example, takes them by appointment, by post or in a drop-in box, and every office needs the originals before the wedding.
With the forms, send:
- your birth certificate (or adoption certificate)
- proof of where you live, no more than 3 months old
- a valid passport or other proof of nationality
If you were married before, add the divorce or annulment papers or your former spouse's death certificate. A partner who is not British needs the declaration of status by non-UK nationals. If they have lived in the UK for less than two years, they also need a certificate of no impediment from their home country. Any document not in English needs a certified translation.
The legal minimum is 28 full days: submit on 1 June and the earliest wedding is 30 June. Councils ask for more. Edinburgh wants your forms six to eight weeks before the wedding, three months if one of you is subject to immigration control, and no more than three months before.
You can marry in Scotland from age 16, indoors or outdoors, anywhere your registrar or celebrant will go. Surprise weddings are not possible: both of you must sign your own notice.
For a religious or belief ceremony, one of you collects the marriage schedule from the registrar no more than seven days before the wedding, and returns it signed within three days. A copy of the certificate costs £10 in the first month and £15 after that.
Northern Ireland
Each of you completes a marriage notice form (GRO 446) and sends it, with the originals of your documents and the fees, to the registrar for the council district where you will marry. You can deliver it in person or post it.
You need your long birth certificate and your passport, plus papers about any earlier marriage or civil partnership. If you were born outside the UK, send a certified copy of your birth certificate from the country that issued it, and your passport or national identity card. Photocopies are only accepted if the issuing authority has certified them.
Notice must go in within the 12 months before the wedding. The legal minimum is 28 days, but nidirect asks for about eight weeks, or ten if either of you was married before. If a partner from abroad does not have the right immigration status, visa or supporting evidence, the Home Office can extend the notice period to 70 days.
Notice costs £22 per person. A civil ceremony by the registrar costs £36 on a weekday during office hours, £162 on a weekday evening or Saturday daytime, and £216 on a Saturday evening, Sunday or bank holiday. The council adds a charge for the room or for the registrar to come to a venue.
Name change and wills
You can apply for a passport in your married name up to three months before the wedding. It is post-dated, so you cannot travel on it until the day, and your old passport will be cancelled. Plan any trips before the wedding around that, and book the honeymoon in the name on the passport you will travel with. In Scotland you don't need to change your name formally at all: most organizations accept the marriage certificate.
In England and Wales, marriage usually cancels an existing will. If you have one, make a new will after the wedding.
How notice fits your planning
Work backwards from the date. Book your venue and registrar or celebrant first, because notice in England and Wales names the venue. Then give notice two to three months before. If a partner is from abroad or a document has to come from another country, aim for the full three months, so a 70-day referral or a re-ordered certificate still fits.
Our dated wedding checklist adds the notice step for England and Wales or Scotland in the right week for your date. In Wedding Harmony the same step comes with a reminder before it is due.