Organise a marriage

Herefordshire is a beautiful county and offers a wide range of venues set within stunning scenery. Weddings and Civil Ceremonies can take place at any of our approved premises in Herefordshire, including the Oak Room, the Assembly Room and the Council Chamber in the Town Hall. The statutory 2+2 ceremony is held in the Register Office located at No 8 St Owen Street, where we also have The Willow Room accommodating ceremonies for up to 20 people.

You can find general information and guidance about having a civil ceremony on the marriages and civil partnerships pages on GOV.UK.

Planning your ceremony

The difference between a civil ceremony and a civil partnership

A civil ceremony is a non-religious legal ceremony performed by a government official or functionary (registrar). These take place at either an approved venue or the Register Office.

A civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people that grants rights and responsibilities similar to those of married couples.

The difference between a marriage and a civil partnership

A civil partnership is entered into by signing the civil partnership schedule while marriage is entered by vows and signing the marriage schedule. Those entering a civil partnership cannot refer to each other as husband and wife, rather they are each other's civil partners. While in the UK marriage and civil partnerships are recognised almost equally, civil partnerships are not recognised everywhere around the world. There is more information about the differences on the GOV.UK website.

You cannot convert a marriage to a civil partnership. You would need to divorce and go through the process again from scratch to form a civil partnership instead.

Same sex couples can convert their civil partnership into a marriage. Opposite sex couples cannot convert their civil partnership into a marriage. You would need to dissolve your civil partnership and go through the process again from scratch to form a marriage instead.

Booking your Registrars

Steps to take when arranging the Registrars for your ceremony:

1. Book your venue - If you are planning to hold your ceremony at one our many approved venues, please ensure that this is booked before arranging for Registrars to attend. If you are planning to hold your ceremony at the Town Hall – Oak Room, Council Chamber or Assembly Hall, please ensure this is booked before booking Registrars. More information and the room booking enquiry form. However, if you are getting married in the Register Office or The Willow Room at No 8, these venues are booked as part of the Registrar booking procedure.
2. Book the registrars to attend your ceremony using our online booking system. We can take bookings for ceremonies up to two years in advance. Please ensure that you have read our terms and conditions as part of your booking.
3. At the point of booking your ceremony, where applicable, you will need to pay a non-refundable and non-transferable booking fee, which is currently £70.
4. The fees for booking the registrars vary depending on the day of the week and the venue. For some venues you are required to pay the fee at the time of booking, for the rest you have up until 90 days before the ceremony to pay the remaining balance. For ceremonies at approved premises in Herefordshire, including the Town Hall – Oak Room, Council Chamber, Assembly Room or The Willow Room there is a fee set by Herefordshire Council for the attendance of the Superintendent Registrar and Registrar.

Giving notice

Before your ceremony, it is a legal requirement that you give notice at your local register office. This is where it is established that you are legally free to marry/enter a civil partnership; and that you have the capacity to consent. This must be completed no longer than 12 months before the date of the ceremony and no later than 29 days before. If you are subject to immigration control, you will need to allow at least 70 days to give notice prior to the ceremony; and you will need to give notice together. You may also need to allow longer if you had a divorce approved abroad.

If you live in Herefordshire, you can book an appointment to give notice. You cannot book your notice appointment until you have decided on your venue.

At the notice appointment, the Superintendent Registrar will ask to see original documents to prove your identity and that you are free to marry in this country, see the full list of documents to bring on GOV.UK. Photocopies will not be accepted. Superintendent Registrars will be able to refuse to issue their authority for a marriage to proceed if they are not satisfied that a person is free to marry in this country.

There is a statutory fee for giving notice, which is currently £42 per person. There are additional fees if you are subject to immigration control or had a previous divorce granted outside the UK.

Getting married abroad

If you are getting married abroad, the first thing you should do is consult the local authorities where you are planning to get married, as the rules about their specific requirements vary considerably depending on the country.

For a marriage abroad, you would be giving a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) at the Register Office rather than a standard notice. Please note, we cannot take a CNI for a number of countries, particularly Commonwealth countries, as different rules apply. Check the government's getting married or registering a civil partnership abroad page for more details.

You can book a CNI appointment online and enter the country where the ceremony is taking place as the venue.

Getting a marriage certificate or CNI apostilled

This is not a service offered by Hereford Register Office. If you need to get your certificate notarised or legalised, such as for a foreign government's administrative processes, you can do this with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Legalisation Office.

Pre-ordering a replacement passport in your new name before your ceremony takes place

A scheme is available where you can pre-order a replacement passport in your new name prior to your ceremony taking place. This scheme is run by the Passport Office. A form (known as a PD2 form) is available on the GOV.UK website. The form needs to be completed by the couple, then sent to the Superintendent Registrar to countersign. This can only be done up to 3 months before the ceremony date. If you require us to post the completed form to you, there is a charge of £30 to us for this service. To email in a form for countersigning, please send it to ceremonies@herefordshire.gov.uk

Preparing for The Big Day

You will find all you need to know about organising your marriage or civil partnership on our preparing for The Big Day page. This includes: the different types of ceremonies, what you can include in your ceremony, how to pre-order a replacement passport in your new name, and information about getting married abroad.