Marriage registration
Marriage registration
Changes to legislation as of 4 May 2021 mean you no longer sign a marriage register or receive a marriage certificate during the ceremony, instead you will sign a marriage schedule. This is a 1-page document which contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage.
The marriage schedule is provided by the Superintendent Registrar in the registration district of your marriage and contains all the details required to complete a marriage registration.
In addition to father details, other parent details will be able to be recorded for example, mother or stepparent.
Each person will still be required to give notice of marriage and the marriage ceremony will remain the same, it is only the way in which a marriage is registered that has changed.
Find out more about:
- how you'll receive the marriage schedule
- information included on the marriage schedule
- signing the marriage schedule
- how your marriage registration will be made
- when you'll be able to obtain a marriage certificate
How you'll receive the marriage schedule
The marriage schedule will be provided by the Superintendent Registrar in the registration district of your marriage:
- if you’re marrying in a civil or religious ceremony, you’ll still be required to give a notice of marriage, at the register office in the district where you have spent the preceding 7 days
- the schedule will be issued by the Superintendent Registrar following the 28-day waiting period
- if you’re not marrying in a religious building the Superintendent Registrar will retain your schedule until the ceremony
- if you’re marrying in a religious ceremony, you must arrange for the marriage schedule to be collected and taken to the person who will perform the marriage at the religious building before your ceremony. The Superintendent Registrar will explain in more detail how this process will work
Information included on the marriage schedule
A marriage schedule will include the details of each person getting married: name and surname, date of birth, condition, address, and occupation.
You can record your mother, father, or parents’ details on the marriage schedule and in the marriage registration. There is now provision to include stepparents.
You’ll be encouraged to provide this information when you give notice. However, if you didn’t give these details at your notice appointment, you can provide the information either prior to or on the day of your marriage.
Signing the marriage schedule
After your marriage ceremony, you'll be asked to check that the details contained in the marriage schedule are accurate, including spellings of names, for example.
Once checked you, your witnesses and the registration officers or relevant person from the religious building will sign the marriage schedule.
How your marriage registration will be made
If you marry in a civil ceremony the registration officer will keep the signed marriage schedule and add the details onto the electronic register at the register office.
If you marry in a religious ceremony, the relevant person from the religious building will return the completed, signed marriage schedule to the register office in the area where your marriage took place within 21 days of your marriage. Once the completed, signed marriage schedule is received at the register office the details will be entered onto the electronic marriage register within the following 7 days; only then will a marriage certificate be available.
When you'll be able to obtain a marriage certificate
A marriage certificate will only be issued after the details have been entered on to the electronic marriage register. This means that you will not be able to obtain a marriage certificate on the day of your marriage. This applies whether you marry in a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony.
Your marriage details will be entered onto the electronic registration register within 7 days of your signed marriage schedule being received at the register office, in the area where you got married.
After your ceremony has taken place you can obtain a marriage certificate by visiting the City of York Registration Service.
