Register your marriage or civil partnership (give notice)

For all marriages and civil partnerships, you need to register to marry or form a civil partnership. 

This is called ‘giving notice’. 

You’ll need 2 marriage or civil partnership notices. They are legally required to give notice of your intention to marry or form a civil partnership.

They are displayed at the reception in Renfrewshire House from the date a couple gives notice until the date of the ceremony itself. This is for the public to view in case of any objections.

By law, you will need 2 witnesses, both who must be aged 16 years or over.

How much the fees are will depend on the type of ceremony, where it is, what day  it’s on, and if you have guests attending.

See the fees for marriages and civil partnerships.

You need to make an appointment to give us your forms and documents before your registration or ceremony.

You must do this:

• no earlier than 3 months before the ceremony or registration
• no later than 29 days before the ceremony or registration.

Both of you must complete a:

• M10 marriage notice form if you’re getting married
• CP10 civil partnership notice form if you’re registering a civil partnership.

We’ll also need details about your witnesses and information about your ceremony if it’s being conducted by one of our registrars.

What you need to bring with you

At your appointment to give notice, both of you need to bring:

• your birth certificate or adoption certificate
• a valid passport or other evidence of your nationality
• a utility bill or other proof of residence. dated within the last 3 months or a Council Tax bill for the current year)

If you are British and born before 1983, you do not need to provide a passport. 

If you do not have a passport, you need to provide your mother's or father's birth certificate.

How to order a birth certificate.

Your documents

All documents must be originals. 

If you are waiting for any of these documents, give notice first and then give the documents to the registrar as early as possible (no later than 7 days before your ceremony).

If your documents are not in English, you must provide a certified translation of them.

If you're not a UK citizen

If one or both of you are not UK citizens, you need to complete a declaration of status by non-UK nationals form.

If you were divorced or separated outside the UK

If you were divorced or your separation was legally granted outside of the UK, you must complete either a:

• foreign divorce questionnaire if you were previously married
• foreign dissolution or annulment questionnaire if you were previously in a civil partnership.

We’ll also need a phone number and email address so we can contact you.

Phone us on 0300 300 0310 to register your marriage or civil partnership, whether your ceremony is at a registration office, a religious venue, or another location in Renfrewshire. 

We’ll take you through the process of arranging it. 

This does not include public holidays.

When you have submitted all the required forms and documents, we’ll:

• publish the marriage or civil partnership notices
• prepare the marriage or civil partnership schedule.

Once this is done, the marriage or civil partnership can go ahead.

The marriage / civil partnership schedule

When the registrar is satisfied that there is no legal reason to stop the marriage or civil partnership going ahead, they’ll prepare a marriage or civil partnership schedule from the information you have given them. 

The schedule is the most important document, and no marriage or civil partnership can proceed without it. 

It confirms the details of the marriage or civil partnership, including the place; date; couple’s, parents’ and celebrant’s details.

Civil marriage or civil partnership ceremony

If you’re having a civil ceremony, the registrar will keep the schedule and have it ready for signing at your wedding.

Religious and belief-based marriage

If you are having a religious or beliefs-based marriage, the registrar will let you know when you can come to the registration office to collect the schedule.

The schedule cannot be:

• issued more than 7 days before the marriage
• collected on your behalf by a relative or friend. 

The registrar will only give it to either one of the couple getting married.

Before the ceremony, you must provide the marriage schedule to the person performing the marriage.

After the ceremony

Immediately after the ceremony, the schedule must be signed in permanent black ink using a fountain pen by the:

• couple
• person performing the ceremony
• 2 witnesses.

If you’ve had a religious ceremony, you must return the signed marriage schedule to the registrar within 3 days of the ceremony so the marriage can be registered.

For all marriages and civil partnerships, the registrar will register it and post a marriage certificate to you.

Contact us if you have any other questions about registering a marriage or civil partnership, or need help with booking a ceremony: