GETTING MARRIED

If you plan to get married within the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, it is important that you read all of this information.

You can choose to have a civil or religious/belief ceremony in Northern Ireland.

Civil ceremonies are conducted by the Registrar and are non-religious.  They take place in each of the designated Registration Office wedding venues or they can also be conducted by the Registrar in other venues which have been licensed for weddings.

Notice of Intention to Marry

You must give at least 28 days’ notice to get married, however we would not recommend leaving it as late as this. If you do not give enough time, you may have to postpone your marriage. 

Please note all Registration Offices are very busy with births, deaths and marriages and failure to give adequate time, may mean that no appointments are available to give your notice of marriage. 

You can give notice up to a year before the date of your marriage.

We recommend you give Official Notice of Your Intention to marry 10-12 weeks before your wedding date. 

How do I give notice?

  • If your wedding ceremony is now within 5/6 weeks. please contact Lisburn Registration Office immediately to book an appointment 028 9244 7263 or email bdm.registration@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk, giving your date of marriage and place of marriage and requesting a call back re; giving notice of marriage.
  • You can also post your original completed marriage notice forms along with relevant documents, to: Lisburn Registration Office, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Civic Headquarters, Lisburn, BT27 4RL -  Please make sure you have the correct postage for your documents, or we may not receive them.
  • You may also hand-deliver to the Post box for Registration at Civic Headquarters, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, BT27 4RL

Please don’t post your original passport and birth certificate as we can accept photocopies.  However, we will need to see the originals before your ceremony takes place and you can bring these when you collect your schedule.  Please note failure to show your original documents means we cannot issue your schedule. 

To give notice of marriage you both have to complete Notice of Intention to Marry Forms and show relevant documentation and pay a fee.

 If you do not have notice forms you can download from: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/marriage-notice-form

You need to complete one each and they need to be signed by the Officiant/Humanist Celebrant that is marrying you.  (Please check with the Officiant/Humanist Celebrant that they are approved to marry you – on the GRO Officiant Database).

You then need to post in the original notice of marriage forms along with photocopies of full birth certificates (showing parents details) or full adoption certificate and photocopies of in-date passports and any other relevant documentation as per notice forms i.e. decree absolute from last marriage/previous marriage certificates/civil partnership certificates, death certificates, deed polls, etc. to: 

Lisburn Registration Office
Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Civic Headquarters
Island Civic Centre, Lisburn
BT27 4RL

If you do not have a full birth certificate and you were born in Northern Ireland, please click here to order a full birth certificate 

Should any of your documents not be in English, we will also need certified translations of these documents.

If either of you are of a different nationality to Irish or British please click here for further information you will be required to complete before you can give notice. 

CERTIFICATE IN RESPECT OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO MARRY

Getting married outside of Northern Ireland

If you live in Northern Ireland and want to get married outside of NI, you may need to provide a document showing that you are free to marry.

In this case, you will need to complete a marriage notice application form in order to apply for a certificate of legal capacity to marry (Certificate of non-impediment).

You will need to check with the authorities in the Country you are hoping to marry in if this is required.

You must submit your application in the district of your home address and proof of home address is required before the application will be accepted. The usual supporting documents for a marriage application are also required. i.e. Full Birth Certificates, Passports, Decree Absolutes, etc.   A fee of £22 per certificate is payable on submission of the application.

When the marriage notice form has been submitted, the certificate of legal capacity to marry will be issued after at least 28 days have passed. 

For more information please click here. 

CONVERT CIVIL PARTNERSHIP TO MARRIAGE AND MARRIAGE TO CIVIL PARTNERSHIP

You can make an appointment to convert your civil partnership to marriage and marriage to civil partnership at Lisburn Registration Office, by calling the office on 028 9244 7263 or emailing bdm.registration@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk

For more information please click here.