How a simple ceremony works
The legal ceremony at a register office in England and Wales. Sooner Date is not the registrar.
Before the ceremony
You choose the venue before you give notice. Notice is a legal statement at your local register office, and it has to name the final venue. You must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days. Giving notice, documents and a date helper.
Give notice at least 29 days before the ceremony. GOV.UK’s example: notice on 1 May, the first ceremony date you could book is 30 May. Hold the ceremony within 12 months of giving notice. Anglican weddings can follow a different notice route. Check with the venue. GOV.UK: give notice.
Where the ceremony can be
For a civil ceremony, GOV.UK says you can use a register office, or any venue approved by the local council, such as a hotel. You need at least two witnesses. A registrar must carry out the ceremony, or be there for it. GOV.UK: plan your ceremony.
You give notice locally, but the venue you name does not have to be in that district. Westminster’s register office tells couples they do not have to use their local office, and that statutory ceremonies are offered by register offices across England and Wales. Westminster statutory ceremonies. Find a register office.
A civil ceremony must not include religious content. You exchange vows if you are marrying. Vows are optional for a civil partnership.
National fees from 6 April 2026
GOV.UK says the registrar costs £62 at a register office, and £114.50 at a registered religious building. Costs can be different at other approved premises.
Notice fees are set in the fees regulations, not printed on the GOV.UK give-notice page. From 6 April 2026 they are £46.50 per person when both of you are exempt from immigration control, and £63 per person in any other case. Schedule 1 and the April 2026 amendment.
Councils often add a certificate, or sell a small room as a package above £62. The council pages on this site show the figure we checked, and say “contact the office” when we did not find one. After the ceremony, ask the local office how to get the certificate. GOV.UK: plan your ceremony.
What this site does not do
We do not read council calendars, book ceremonies, or give notice. A date is shown only after we have seen it, with an as-at time. In this version no date has been seen for any office.
Questions
What is a statutory register office ceremony?
It is the legal ceremony at a register office: the couple, two witnesses and a registrar. Councils often sell larger rooms as well. Those are a different product and can cost more than the national registrar fee.
Can we marry at any register office in England and Wales?
You give notice at your local register office, and the notice names the venue. GOV.UK says a civil ceremony can be at a register office or at a venue the local council has approved. Westminster’s register office says you do not have to use your local office, and that other offices across England and Wales also offer statutory ceremonies.
What are the national fees from 6 April 2026?
Notice is £46.50 per person when both people are exempt from immigration control, or £63 per person otherwise. GOV.UK says a registrar at a register office costs £62. A certificate is often extra, and the council’s package can be higher than £62.
Does Sooner Date show ceremony dates?
Only after we have seen one, with the time we saw it. Until then the page says “No date seen yet”. We do not read council calendars.