ARRANGING THE SERVICE

In all cases, the Register Office in the district in which the Ceremony is to take place should be contacted first as it is this Register Office who will supply the Superintendent Registrar to conduct the proceedings. For those couples whose Ceremony will take place in Scotland, only the Register Office in the district in which the marriage is to take place need be contacted.

So now you know who to contact, let’s look at what will happen during the subsequent appointment with the Registrar.

First things first, unless the following conditions are (will be) met, then the meeting will be pointless. So to prevent couples wasting both theirs and the their Registrar’s time, please ensure that the following conditions are met:

1. The Wedding must be taking place in the next twelve months.
2. Each partner must have resided in the district in which they are giving notice for at least seven nights.
3. If the partners live in different districts, notice must be given within seven days of each other.
4. A minimum of fifteen days must elapse after notice has been given before the Service can take place.

Assuming that you meet, or plan to meet, the above criteria, let’s proceed onto what you need to tell them, and what they need to know from you.

The initial port of call at the meeting should obviously be to confirm that the Superintendent Registrar can attend. Each Register Office will employ a number of Superintendent Registrars who are able to attend more than one Wedding a day so don’t panic if it is only a few weeks till your Wedding and you still have not arranged one. That said, get your finger out! Whilst it isn’t an everyday occurrence for Register Offices to be fully booked, it still does happen so the earlier you book the better.