Religious marriage ceremonies can take place in any church, chapel or other religious building which has been registered for worship and for the solemnisation of marriages.
View the GOV.UK list of places of worship registered for marriage.
Church of England and Church in Wales marriages
You need to contact the vicar for the church or chapel in which you wish to marry. They will advise you about their requirements and any fees payable.
You will need to complete the legal preliminaries for your marriage. For many Church of England and Church in Wales marriages, this will involve reading and publishing Banns. Banns are a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church, announcing an intended marriage and giving the opportunity for objections.
The vicar will prepare the marriage document which you and your partner will need to check and sign on the day of your marriage. Your witnesses and the vicar will also sign the document.
The vicar must return the marriage document to Peterborough Register Office within 21 days of your marriage. The Register Office then registers the marriage. Once this has been done, you can order marriage certificates online at a cost of £12.50 each.
The Register Office does not normally need to be involved with Church of England and Church in Wales ceremonies. However, you will be required to give notice at Peterborough Register Office if either of you:
- Are not a British or Irish citizen
- Do not hold EU Settled Status
- Do not have right of abode in the UK
- Do not have a Forces immigration exemption
- Have a foreign divorce
If one of these scenarios applies to you, please call us to discuss giving notice on 01733 864 646 (open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
Other religious marriages
To arrange a religious marriage ceremony, please contact the minister or person responsible for the religious building.
Follow the steps:
- Check that the religious building is registered for both worship and marriage. View a list of the places of worship registered for marriage on the GOV.UK website. The venue should have a number listed in the columns for worship and for marriage. It will show if it can perform opposite-sex or same-sex ceremonies, or both.
- Check that the religious building has an authorised person who is authorised to register the legal part of the ceremony. The venue should be able to confirm whether they have an authorised person, and what they can do.
Please note - if you're having a same-sex ceremony in a religious building, the authorised person will specifically need to be authorised for same-sex ceremonies. - In all cases, you must make an appointment to give notice with Peterborough Register Office. 'Giving notice' is a legal requirement that a couple must complete before a marriage can take place. It involves declaring who you intend to marry, where the ceremony will take place, and that you are legally free to marry.
- After the statutory 28 day notice period passes (which could be 70 days if you are subject to immigration control and we need to refer your notices to the Home Office), we will issue the legal marriage document which requires signing at the ceremony. You will need to collect this from the Register Office and take it to the authorised person.
- After the ceremony, the authorised person must return the marriage document to the Register Office within 21 days. The Register Office then registers the marriage. Once this has been done, you can order marriage certificates from us online. Marriage certificates cost £12.50 each.
- If the religious building does not have an authorised person, you will need to book a registrar from Peterborough Register Office to attend your ceremony to perform the legal part. There is a fee of £114.50 for this service. Click the link in this paragraph to find out what you need to do.