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Getting married

There has never been more choice about where to get married in Shropshire, with many approved premises now offering alternatives to the traditional church or register office wedding. However there are legal requirements which must be observed, wherever you marry.

Weddings have to take place in a permanent structure. Many of our venues have outside structures licensed for marriages and civil partnerships to allow couples to marry in a less formal setting. It's not possible to license temporary structures for marriages or civil partnerships.

To arrange a wedding at an approved venue, you must first make provisional arrangements with the venue, and then contact the Registration Service on 0345 678 9016. We're now pleased to be able to accept provisional bookings for ceremonies up to two years in advance of the proposed ceremony date. See our prices section for fee information. You must still give notice in the district/s where you live.

The legal process - notice of marriage

Before you can marry in England and Wales you need to complete certain legal preliminaries. You'll always need to give a notice of marriage if you're both over 18 years of age and marrying in:

A local authority ceremony room
One of the many approved venues, including stately homes, hotels and country inns in Shropshire
A church or chapel of a denomination other than the Church of England or Church in Wales

If you're intending to get married in the Church of England or Church in Wales, find out more about that process here.

When giving notice you must state the name of the venue in which you're intending to marry. If you change your mind about your venue once notice has been given, you'll have to give a fresh notice and go through the process again.

A notice of marriage must be given in person, by both of the couple, to a registrar in their local registration district. If you live in the Shropshire Council area and both have British or EEA nationality, there are a number of registration service points at which you can do this. To do this you will need to book an appointment which carries a fee. See our fees page for more information.

Click on the headings below to find out about the rules for giving notice of marriage, depending on your own circumstances.

Nationality: British/EEA/Swiss - giving notice of marriage

Before you can give notice of marriage certain conditions must be met. You both should have lived at your address for a minimum of seven complete days prior to giving notice to your local registrar. Once notice has been given it doesn't matter if you move house. You'll need to provide evidence to the registrar of:

Your name
Your date of birth
Your nationality
Your address
That you're free to marry, if you've previously been married or in a civil partnership

The evidence which is acceptable as proof of the above is prescribed by law. The local registrar has no discretion and you must provide evidence from the prescribed list. If you don't bring the required evidence along with you to your appointment to give notice the registrar won't be able to help you and you'll be turned away.

Under 18 years of age - giving notice of marriage

If one or both of you are aged under 18 years at the time notice is given and won't be aged 18 years after the conclusion of the waiting period of 28 days when the authority for your marriage to take place can be issued, you'll need to have the consent of the person who has parental responsibility for you. In most cases this will be one of your parents if your parents were married at the time of your birth. If they weren't married at the time of your birth, the consent of your mother will be required.

In all circumstances where consent is required you should speak with your local registration service as this is a very complex area, and your personal circumstances will need to be fully understood before the correct advice can be given. Your local registration service will issue you with some forms which will need to be completed before you attend to give notice. When you attend your notice of marriage appointment, the completed forms will need to be presented to the registrar along with the other prescribed evidence needed for the completion of your legal preliminaries.

Nationality: NOT British/EEA/Swiss - giving notice of marriage

If you or the person you want to marry aren't citizens of any of the countries which are members of the EEA, or Swiss nationals, take a look at the immigration control information.