Marriage and civil partnership ceremonies
If you are planning to get married or form a civil partnership in the UK, you need to complete some legal steps before the ceremony can take place.
You may need give a notice of intention before marrying
Where to get married
You can have your ceremony at:
- a register office
- an approved venue
- a registered building
- a church of England, Church in Wales or chapel
- a naval, military or air force chapel registered for marriages
- the home of someone who is housebound or detained
- at home or in hospital if one party is seriously ill and not expected to recover. Please contact registrars@ealing.gov.uk to discuss the criteria and process.
The borough has a list of approved venues you can look at, please note this list may change often.
If your chosen venue is not on the list, check with them directly to see if they are officially registered for marriages, before contacting the council.
If you are using a registered building or church, contact the person in charge to discuss the date and confirm they are registered for marriages.
Booking a ceremony
All venues (except The Brentham Club) need you to book with them as well as with the Ealing Register Office.
There are 2 fees that need to be paid:
- a room hire fee at all approved venues that must be paid before booking ceremony
- a second fee for your online booking (see below) which covers the registrars' attendance to officiate at the ceremony
After getting married, you will need to order marriage or civil partnership certificates online. For The Brentham Club, select it from the list to check availability and book without additional venue hire fees.
If you are marrying in a religious venue and need a registrar, email registrarsmanagement@ealing.gov.uk to arrange it.
Statutory ceremonies
Statutory ceremonies take place only on Monday mornings, so there may be a long wait for this type of ceremony.
If we have no availability, check with other register offices within England or Wales.
To give your notice of marriage or civil partnership, you must check availability and book with Ealing Register Office. Both partners must be residents of the borough.
The register office ceremony would be for the couple and 2 witnesses only to attend.
If you book your notice appointment without written confirmation of a statutory room booking, you might need to choose another venue for your ceremony.
Make a civil partnership booking
Fees and charges
Ceremonies usually take place between 9am and 5pm, a later time can also be arranged.
For more information see fees and charges
Deposit and cancellations
A deposit is needed when booking. This deposit goes towards the service if you attend the ceremony.
The full fee must be paid 6 weeks before the ceremony.
If you need to cancel or change your ceremony, your fee may not be refunded, and an extra charge might apply.
After the ceremony
Couples and witnesses sign a marriage schedule instead of a marriage register during the ceremony.
This schedule is digitised to create an online register entry.
A marriage certificate can only be issued once the marriage has been registered electronically. Certificates will not be given at the ceremony.
There is a £12.50 charge for this. Certificates can be ordered and paid for, online after the ceremony and they will be sent by recorded delivery to your home.
You can order as many copies as you want, and they will all be posted to you.