Marriages and civil partnerships

Marriage schedule system

Paper registers are no longer completed during a marriage/civil partnership ceremony. This has been replaced with a schedule system and electronic register, which is a more secure system for keeping marriage and civil partnership records.

Ceremonies at our venues and approved marriage and civil partnership venues

  • Couples will be invited to sign a marriage/civil partnership schedule, which is an A4 document.
  • Couples have the option to include up to 4 parents in the schedule and, subsequently, their marriage /civil partnership certificate, ie mother, father, stepmother and stepfather.
  • Couples will not receive a certificate on the day of the ceremony. This will be processed in a specified timescale by the Registration Office in business hours for collecting/posting in line with customer choice.

Marriages / civil partnerships in religious buildings (not Church of England)

  • On the day of the ceremony, couples will be invited to sign a marriage/civil partnership schedule, which is an A4 document.
  • Couples have the option to include up to 4 parents in the schedule and, subsequently, on the certificate, ie mother, father, stepmother and stepfather.
  • Couples will not receive a certificate on the day of the ceremony.
  • Couples are expected to return the signed schedule to the Register Office in the district where the ceremony took place, within 21 days. On return, they will need to complete an application form and make payment for the number of certificates they require. These will be processed in a specified timescale by the Registration Office in business hours for collecting/posting in line with customer choice.

Church of England marriages / civil partnerships

  • On the day of the ceremony, couples will be invited to sign a marriage/civil partnership document, which is an A4 document.
  • Couples have the option to include up to 4 parents in the schedule and, subsequently, on their certificate, ie mother, father, stepmother and stepfather.
  • Couples will not receive a certificate on the day of the ceremony.
  • Couples are expected to return the signed schedule to the Register Office in the district where the ceremony took place, within 21 days. On return, they will need to complete an application form and make payment for the number of certificates they require. These will be processed in a specified timescale by the Registration Office in business hours for collecting/posting in line with customer choice.
Page last updated: 27 Feb 2023