Sadly, wedding planning is not only about designing your wedding theme, choosing colourful centre pieces and shopping for dresses and shoes. Getting married is serious business, there’s plenty of essential paperwork that legally needs to be completed, prior to you walking down the aisle to your true love!
Wedding Legalities
Below I have put together a guide to some of the more formal terms you will encounter when planning your wedding and some advice on how to manage these processes.
The Banns
Wedding Banns are a legal requirement for Church of England weddings. They are the formal announcement of your intention to marry.
Your Banns will be announced by your minister on three Sundays during the three months before your wedding day. They must be read in your parish church, as well as in the church where your ceremony will take place.
When booking your wedding ceremony, your minister will give you details for the wording as well as the fees. You will book the announcement of the Banns through your minister.
Giving Notice
This is a legal requirement that formalises your intentions to marry. Regardless of where you will Marry you need to go to your local registry office with proof of identity and any previous marriage documents, as well as detail of where you will marry.
Click here to Visit direct.gov.uk or your town hall website for more information.
You will need to make an appointment with a registrar to complete the documents, which must be on view for 15 days at the offices.
For your marriage to be legal, you need to give at least 15 days before your wedding and no more than 12 months in advance.
When can you Marry?
You can get married on any day, including Sunday, but be aware, many local authorities are closed on bank holidays, and churches tend to be busier, making those day less likely. Check with your chosen registrar or minister as to which date they are available.
Due to a change in the aLaw, you are now able to marry at any time of the day!
Getting Married Abroad
Whether you can legally marry abroad depends on the country you wish to marry in. The First step is to visit the Direct Gov website here Getting Married abroad Info, to check what applies to you! Be sure to check what paperwork you will need to proceed with your wedding abroad!
To make the process easier, many couples chose to take care of the legalities by civil marriage in their home country first and then hold a Blessing and Celebration abroad for friends and family. To all present the blessing ceremony will appear as a normal wedding. At this time you can exchange rings and take your vows just as you would in a full marriage ceremony.
As you know we specialise in getting married in Spain. You can legally marry in Spain if you are:
-Catholic and wish to marry in a Catholic Church- this can be arranged relatively easily and we are able to arrange english speaking priests or translators.
-Legally registered as living in Spain you can have a civil ceremony in your local town hall or occasionally in another venue conducted by the Town Mayor.
I hope this article makes understanding some of the Wedding terms a little easier!
For an informal chat about your wedding or if you would like to know more about our wedding venues in Spain, please do not hesitate in contacting me please EMAIL me here. To find out more about our Wedding Planning Services Click here.
