Arranging your Marriage: Places to Marry

A valid marriage must be solemnized in a place which has been sanctioned according to law for marriage celebration after the correct legal preliminaries have been completed.


MARRIAGE AT THE REGISTER OFFICE
Birmingham Register Office is located in Holliday Street near the Mailbox and close to numerous hotels and restaurants. The stylish complex is part of the area's regeneration that has seen disused buildings transformed into an exciting mix of developments for homes, business and entertainment.

The Register Office continues to maintain its popularity as a place for marriage and, with the widening of choice, has attracted couples from all over the country. You can arrange your wedding up to 12 months before it is due to take place so that your other arrangements may also go ahead in the knowledge that the time for the ceremony has been fixed.

CIVIL MARRIAGES IN APPROVED PREMISES

Local authorities are able to approve other buildings for civil marriages, as long as they are safe and suitable for conducting dignified marriage ceremonies which have no religious content. These buildings are known as Approved Premises. This allows civil marriages to take place in hotels, banqueting suites, historic buildings, stately homes and other suitable venues which have been approved by the local authority. Marriages in approved premises have become increasingly popular.

You are able to choose to have your civil marriage in any approved building in any district in England or Wales. You are not restricted to the district where you live. The fees for marriage ceremonies in these approved buildings are set by each local council, and they vary throughout the country. A list of the wide selection of buildings approved for civil marriages in Birmingham can be viewed on this website.

For marriages in approved premises, you must complete the same legal requirements as for Register Office marriages.

The fees for marriage ceremonies in these approved buildings are set by each local authority and vary throughout the country.

RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE IN A CHURCH, MOSQUE, TEMPLE OR OTHER RELIGIOUS BUILDING

If you are getting married in a Church of England, you will make all your arrangements with the vicar at the church where you are being married.

If, however, you are getting married in any other religious building which is registered for marriages, (for example, Baptist, Hindu, Methodist, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Sikh or other religious denomination), you must fulfil the legal requirements at your local Register Office BEFORE the marriage takes place.

The law governing marriages in religious buildings has not changed. It is still only possible to be married in a religious building situated in the district where either or both of you live. You may, however, be married in a religious building in a district in which neither of you live if either of you usually worship in that building.

Register Office staff will be glad to give you help and advice on this matter.

The Register Office
Holliday Wharf
Holliday Street
BIRMINGHAM
B1 1TJ

Telephone: 0121 675 1000

E-mail:register.office@birmingham.gov.uk

See our on line Brochure

Getting Married in Birmingham Register Office

Marrying at Approved Premises