When you get married you can choose to have a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony. If you are forming a civil partnership you can only have a civil ceremony. Find out more about Civil partnerships.
Civil ceremonies
You can arrange to have a civil ceremony in Harrow at a Ceremony room or approved licensed venue. For more information see, Wedding and civil partnership venues.
Two registrars conduct a civil ceremony. One will register the marriage and the other will be the celebrant.
On the day of the ceremony the registrars will meet with you. They'll check your personal details. They'll get the information to put in the schedule. If your ceremony is in one of our ceremony rooms or a licensed venue in Harrow, you can tailor it.
Religious weddings
If you marry in the Church of England, your vicar will handle arrangements.
You need to submit a notice of marriage to the Register office if:
- you are under immigration control and
- you want to marry in the Church of England.
Non-Church of England religious weddings
You should contact the venue to book your wedding if:
- you plan to marry in a non-Church of England church or
- you plan to have a wedding under another faith.
You will need to submit a notice of marriage to our Register office. We will issue you with a marriage schedule 28 days after the notice is submitted. You will need to bring this schedule to your wedding during which you will need to sign it.
After the wedding, you need to take your signed marriage schedule to the Register office. You will need to take it to the Register office of the local authority the venue was in.
The local authority will then give you a marriage certificate. Please allow up to five working days to receive it.
Some places may ask you to arrange for the attendance of a registrar on the day of the wedding. They will tell you if this is the case. If so please contact us as early as possible to book a registrar.
Customary religious weddings
Some faiths have wedding ceremonies not recognised by English law. To get a legal status of your marriage, you will need to have a civil marriage.
You need to confirm if this is needed. You should do this before setting the date for your religious wedding.
If a civil wedding is needed, we recommend you schedule it first. This is because there may be legal complications later. Contact us to confirm if your ceremony is legal under English law.
Arranging your ceremony
Before you have your ceremony, you must:
- Choose the date, time, and venue for your ceremony.
- Book your registrars.
- Give your notice of marriage. You will need to have your ceremony within 12 months of giving notice.