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• Advice
• Business
• Community
• Your council
• Environment
• Events
• Leisure and culture
• Jobs

• Marriages
• Getting married in Belfast
• Documents needed to get married
• Marriage fees
• Marriage certificates
• Civil weddings in Registrar's office (Belfast City Hall)
• Civil weddings in approved venues
• Wedding photography in our parks
• Civil weddings in a venue of your choice
• Religious weddings
• Three-year marriage and civil partnership licences (for venues)

• Frequently asked questions
• Births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships

• Related links
• Births
• Deaths, burials and cremations
• Civil partnerships
• Local and family history

Marriages

In a city as large as Belfast, there are plenty of options to consider for your wedding celebrations.

There are lots of beautiful venues to choose from for your ceremony and reception, many of which can provide a stunning backdrop for your photographs.

Our registration staff, based in Belfast City Hall, are happy to deal with any queries you may have about getting married in Belfast. Call us on 028 9027 0274 or email registrar@belfastcity.gov.uk for more information. The office is also open from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday and 9.30am to 4pm on Fridays.

In this section, you can:

• view types of wedding ceremony
  
• check what documents are required
• check marriage fees
• view approved marriage venues
• find out how to get permission for wedding photography in our parks
• apply for a licence to hold marriage ceremonies (for venues)
• find out how to order a copy of your marriage certificate

Legal requirements

To marry in Northern Ireland, you and your partner must be:

• aged 18 or above on the day of your wedding (consent is needed if either of you is aged 16 or 17)
• unrelated to one another in a way that would prevent you from getting married
• free to marry, for example, neither of you is already a civil partner or legally married
• of a different sex.

To make sure both parties meet these criteria, you must complete a marriage notice form, and supply the other necessary documents needed to get married, before your ceremony can take place. These should be returned to the Registrar's office in the district where you plan to marry.

• What documents do I need to get married?
• List of district registrars in Northern Ireland

Types of ceremony

You can choose to have a civil or a religious wedding.

In Belfast, civil ceremonies can take place in the Registrar's office in Belfast City Hall or in another venue which has been licensed for weddings. They are conducted by a Registrar and are non-religious.

Religious ceremonies take place in a church, chapel or other building of worship. Services are conducted by authorised officiants, according to the relevant tradition.

Click on the thumbnails below to find out more about each marriage option:


Civil weddings in Registrar's office (Belfast City Hall) Civil weddings in a licensed venue, approved by the Registrar Civil weddings in a licensed venue of your choice Religious weddings

More information

The General Register Office (GRO), based at Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street, Belfast, BT1 4HL, provides help and advice about the following issues:

• getting married overseas
• immigration requirements
• ordering historical birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates.

Detailed information about all these topics is available from the NI Direct website

If you're planning on getting married in Italy, contact the General Register Office for guidance .