In Northern Ireland, preliminaries may vary according to the method of solemnisation. The basics are:
- minimum age is 16, for both parties, but parental consent must be given for people under 18.
- the parties must arrange for two witnesses to be present at the marriage to sign the marriage register.
Documentation required:
- if birth certificates of the people getting married are available it is helpful to the Registrar if they can be produced when the notice of marriage is given.
- if either party is from abroad an official travel identity document for that person should be produced.
- parties who have been previously married should produce documentation or evidence of the death of the former spouse, or the dissolution or annulment of the marriage.
If getting married at the Registrar’s Office:
A Registrar of Marriages is legally authorised to perform civil marriages. The marriages must take place by Registrar’s licence or Registrar’s certificate.
Registrar’s Licence
- A Registrar’s licence may authorise a marriage in his office or church or other building registered for marriages in the registration district, provided that a t least one of the parties lives in that district.
- If both parties live in the same Registrar’s district, one party must have lived there for at least fifteen days and the other for at least seven days immediately before notice is given to the Registrar of that district. Notice may be given by either party.
- If the parties live in different districts the 1) notice must be given to the Registrar of each district, 2) both parties must have lived in their respective districts for fifteen days immediately before giving notice, and £) the Registrar within whose district the marriage is to take place must have received the certificate from the Registrar of the other district before he issues his licence.
- The Registrar, seven clear days after the giving of the notice, and after administering an oath or declaration to one of the parties, may issue the licence.
Registrar’s Certificate
- A Registrar’s certificate may authorise a marriage in his office or in a church or other building registered for marriages in the registration district, provided that a t least one of the parties lives in that district.
- If both parties live in the same Registrar’s district, they must have lived there for at least seven days immediately before notice is given to the Registrar of that district. Notice may be given by either party.
- If the parties live in different districts the 1) notice must be given to the Registrar of each district, 2) both parties must have lived in their respective districts for seven days immediately beforehand.
- After twenty-one clear days from the date that the notice was given, the Registrar may issue his certificate. Where notice was given in different districts a certificate must be issued by each Registrar.
The above information is not complete law and is given as a guideline only. To find out more about getting married in Northern Ireland within the different churches, please refer to www.weddings.co.uk
