Religious buildings

Choose your ceremony venue

A religious ceremony can take place at:

• a Church or Chapel of the Church of England, or
• at any other place of worship which has been registered for marriages by the Registrar General.

It is only possible to marry in a Religious Building in the Registration District where one or both of you live or in a building outside your district(s) of residence providing it is where either of you usually worship.

You may also marry in another district if there is no building of your religion in the district(s) in which you or your partner resides. Register Office staff will be happy to offer advice in these cases.

If the Church or Religious Building requires the presence of a registrar to register your marriage you must contact the Register office to make a provisional booking.

Church of England

If you wish to marry in the Church of England, you should contact the Vicar of the Church in which you wish to marry with whom you will generally make all the arrangements.

Any other place of worship

If you are getting married in any other building which has been registered for marriages (for example, Methodist, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Sikh) you should first contact the religious leader or other person in charge of the building to make provisional arrangements with them.

Book the registrar to attend your marriage ceremony

If the church or religious building you are getting married in does not have its own authorised person to register the marriage, you will need to arrange for a registrar to attend.

Details of the fee for Attendance of Registrar at Religious Building can be found on the fees page.

If you want to arrange a new marriage ceremony. You will need to tell us the names of the people getting married, your chosen venue, and preferred date for the ceremony.

To arrange a date for your marriage ceremony or to make a general enquiry about a ceremony. Contact us to arrange a date or to make a general enquiry about a ceremony