Marriages and Civil Partnerships
Getting married or forming a Civil Partnership is one of life’s most important and special occasions but one which can also be daunting and confusing. We hope the information on this page will guide you through the many choices to be made along the journey to your special day.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further advice by calling 01325 346604.
Before any Marriage or Civil Partnership can take place, both people ("parties") are required to Give Notice of their intention to be Married or form a Civil Partnership and regardless of the location of the ceremony.
This must be given in the district where you live which may not be the same as the ceremony venue.
Notice of Marriage/Civil Partnership can be given at the earliest one year and no later than 16 days before the ceremony. Without a valid Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership the ceremony can't go ahead.
It is your responsibility after booking a ceremony to give appropriate notice.
To give notice of marriage in Darlington you should contact us by telephone. We will organise an appointment for you and advise you of the appropriate fee and documents required.
Notice of Intent [pdf document]
Venues
A Civil Marriage or Civil Partnership can only take place in either the Register Office or an Approved Venue licensed for Civil Ceremonies.
Register Office and Backhouse Hall
By law, each Registration District has to designate a “Register Office” and provide a Civil Marriage or Civil Partnership Ceremony at a statutory rate which is currently £40.00 plus certificates.
The designated Register Office in Darlington is the Superintendent Registrar's Office which is not located in the ceremony suite.
The couple and up to 4 witnesses are allowed in the room and ceremonies are only available Monday to Friday by prior arrangement.
Most couples choose to use the Backhouse Hall ceremony suite which has two ceremony rooms, accommodating up to 40 and 80 people respectively, a separate bride's waiting room, bar area and garden area for photographs.
More information about the Register office and ceremonies at Backhouse hall are available on our Facilities page
Booking and Availability
A marriage or civil partnership must be carried out
between 8am and 6pm (unless by Registrar's Licence or according to the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish or Quaker faiths)
Civil Ceremonies are not available on Christmas Day or Good Fridays.
The dates and times of availability for ceremonies are managed and at the discretion of the Superintendent Registrar.
Once you have chosen your venue for your ceremony and have agreed with the venue that they are available on that date you should contact the Register Office to make a booking.
Bookings for ceremonies can be made by telephoning the Register Office 01325 346604 - we will hold these provisionally for two weeks. During these two weeks a booking form and deposit will be required to confirm the booking.
Marriage or Civil Partnership Booking Form [word document]
Terms and Conditions [pdf document]
It is recommended that you do not pay any fees to venues until you have confirmed our availability to attend your ceremony as we can't be responsible for not being able to accommodate agreements with venues prior to checking our availability.
Organising a Civil Ceremony
The legal requirements for a Civil Ceremony are minimal and allow you to personalise your ceremony in terms of vows, readings, music, dedicating candles, making promises to children and lots more.
You will be provided with information which will guide you through the order of the ceremony, the legal requirements and also some popular suggestions for ways to make the ceremony more personal and meaningful
Before the ceremony you will be asked to complete a questionnaire and return it to us so that the Registrar performing the ceremony has all of the necessary information. You will also be provided with information which will clarify how the ceremony works including timescales for the day.
If you are having a marriage or civil partnership in an approved venue we encourage you to make an appointment with the Registrar for a pre-ceremony meeting 2 – 4 weeks beforehand to discuss the ceremony.
The Purpose of a Civil Ceremony is to provide an alternative to a Religious ceremony and therefore a Civil Ceremony can't include any words, music, readings or rituals which are intentionally (for example, readings from the bible, or hymns) or obviously religious.
We do try to be as flexible as possible to accommodate requests to make your ceremony personal and many pieces of music and readings are allowed which you might not think are.
If you have any questions or concerns about this you should contact us for further advice.
Documents you might find useful:
Church of England
Notice of partnership to a marriage for a Church of England ceremony are organised directly with the church and are known as “banns”.
You should seek advice from the church where the marriage is taking place to arrange for “banns” and you are not required to attend the Register Office to give notice of marriage.
All other denominations
Marriages in religious Buildings other than Church of England Buildings (otherwise known as “Non Conformist” religions) require a couple to give Notice of Marriage with the Register Office in the district which they reside (which may not be the district of the location of the marriage) and are given the authority to marry by Superintendents Certificate for Marriage rather than Banns as in a Church of England.
These rules apply to all marriages in the Catholic, Methodist, Modern Christian, Spiritualist and Sikh religions.
A marriage in a mosque according to the Islamic faith may not always be legally recognised in this country and couples who have been through a form of marriage ceremony in a mosque usually require a civil marriage (for example, in the Register Office) for them to acquire the legal rights of marriage.
The Jewish and Quaker faiths are bound by different marriage rules to civil and all other religious groups and you should contact the synagogue or friends meeting house where the marriage is to take place to make the appropriate arrangements or contact the Register Office for initial advice.
If you are getting married outside of the United Kingdom you should make the appropriate arrangements with the authorities for that country. However, a record that your marriage has taken place abroad can be deposited with the General Register Office [external link]
Some countries, but not all, require you to provide the authorities of the country where the marriage is taking with a “Certificate of No Impediment”.
Should you be asked for this document you should contact the Register Office in the district where you live for further advice on how to obtain one.
A marriage is only ever registered where it occurs and therefore your local register office does not need to know that the marriage has taken place upon your return.
Not all foreign marriages, particularly some religious marriages, are legally recognised in the United Kingdom. Should you have any queries about the validity of a marriage you should contact the General Register Office [external link] or 0300 1231837 for further advice.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Although part of the United Kingdom, marriage and civil partnership laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different to those in England and Wales.
If you are a resident of England or Wales and you want to marry/have a Civil Partnership in Scotland or Northern Ireland you should make the appropriate arrangements with the place of the ceremony or contact the Scottish Registrar General [external link] or the Northern Ireland Registrar General [external link]
If you are a resident of Scotland or Northern Ireland and you want to marry/have a civil partnership in England and Wales you should contact the Register Office in the district of the marriage or civil partnership for advice.
If your nationality is that of a country not in the European Union, but you want to get married/form a Civil Partnership in England or Wales, contact the Register Office in the district you live for further advice.
If you are under 18 on the day of your Marriage or Civil Partnership you will need to obtain consent from a appropriate parent/legal guardian before being able to give notice of marriage or civil partnership.
Contact the Register Office in the district you live for further advice.
Where a marriage or civil partnership is required to take place sooner than 16 days (so the couple are unable to give a usual Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership) a Registrar General’s Licence may be obtained and the ceremony can take place outside of the usual times of 8am to 6pm and can also take place somewhere not approved for a marriage or civil partnership (for an example, an individuals’ home or a hospital)
Registrars Generals Licences are most commonly granted for marriages/civil partnerships where one of the parties is terminally ill and can't be moved to a place currently registered for marriage/civil partnership.
Should you be in this situation contact us on
01325 346604 during office hours or on our Emergency Out of Hours number 07932 538910 for advice.