If you plan to get married within the Lisburn & Castlereagh area, 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.
Notify us of you intention to marry
You must give a minimum of 28 days’ notice to get married. We recommend you do this 10-12 weeks before your wedding date.
We will accept notice up to a year before the date of your marriage.
The notification process is:
- Contact our registration team by phone on 028 9244 7263 or email bdm.registration@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk to book an appointment. We will need to know the date and place of your marriage.
- Our team will contact you about your paperwork. You can download the notice online on this link
- Both individuals need to complete a Marriage Notice Form.
- Please return your completed forms to us along with photocopies of the appropriate identification. You can post or hand deliver them to our Registration Office at Lagan Valley Island. The full postal address is Registration Office, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Civic Headquarters, Lisburn, BT27 4RL.
- We need photocopies of the following:
- full birth certificates (showing parents' details) or full adoption certificates
- photocopies of in-date passports
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Please make sure you have the correct postage for your documents, or we may not receive them.
- The Notice of Marriage will 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).
- We will arrange for you to collect your schedule and ask you to bring the originals of your identification paperwork. You can pay your fee at this appointment.
N.B. Please note failure to show your original documents means we cannot issue your schedule.
I want to get married outside of Northern Ireland
You may need to provide a document to show that you are free to marry if you live in Northern Ireland and wish to get married outside of the area.
You need to:
- check with the authorities in this country where you hope to marry, what paperwork you need to provide
- if necessary, complete a marriage notice application so that you can then apply for a certificate of legal capacity to marry (known as a certificate of non-impediment)
- submit the above application to the council in which you reside, along with proof of your home address
- provide copies of the supporting documents as required for a marriage licence i.e. full birth certificates, passports, decree absolutes etc.
- include a fee of £22 per certificate with your application
We will issue the certificate of legal capacity to marry at least 28 days after receipt of your marriage licence form
For more information please click here.
Order a certified copy of marriage certificate