Ceremonies in religious buildings

Temple wedding

Preliminaries in the Church of England/Wales

If you are getting married in a Church of England / Wales church, you will not normally need to give a notice of marriage as the vicar or minister will read banns.

However, if you are a foreign national (NOT British, Irish or do not have EUSS - settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status submitted before 30 June 2021), you will be asked to give a notice of marriage at your local register office. Your vicar will need to provide written consent that the marriage can go ahead at that church, and that banns cannot be read due to immigration restrictions. To help this process, please download the vicar’s letter template and deliver it to the church before your notice of marriage.

Consent from the vicar must be obtained before you attend the appointment to give your notice of marriage.

Preliminaries in other religious establishments

If you are getting married in another religious establishment (such as another church, mosque, gurdwara, temple) you will need to give a notice of marriage.

If the building is not in the district where you live it will need to be the usual place of worship for at least one of you.

Forming a civil partnership in a religious building. Is that possible?

If you would like to form a civil partnership in a religious building (not Church of England/Wales) you will need to check with the church or temple that they offer this facility.

If they do you will need to give a notice of civil partnership.

Alternatively, you can complete the legal paperwork at Southampton Register Office and your church or temple may offer you a blessing afterwards.

How does the registration work?

Marriage registration is changing on 4 May 2021. You will no longer sign a marriage register or be given a marriage certificate on the day. Instead you will sign a Marriage Document (Church of England/Wales) or a Marriage Schedule (other churches, mosques, gurdwaras, temples), which is a one-page document containing the details of the people getting married. This is then used to register the marriage at the Register Office.

Church of England/Wales

The Marriage Document is issued by the vicar at the church where the ceremony will take place.

Other churches, mosques, gurdwaras, temples

The Marriage Schedule is issued by the Register Office. Southampton Register Office will issue the Marriage Schedule for any marriage to take place within the Southampton district only.

After the marriage, the minister of religion must deliver the Marriage Document or Marriage Schedule to Southampton Register Office within 21 days. You (or a friend/relative) may be able to deliver this to the Southampton Register Office on behalf of the minister of religion. The registration team will register the marriage from that document within seven days.

For more information, please download the information leaflet:

How do I apply for my marriage certificates?

You can apply for your marriage certificate once seven calendar days have passed. All certificates are ordered online.

It might be worth ordering an extra copy as marriage certificates are used frequently to prove a change of name.