There are several reasons why you may not be able to get married or form a civil partnership in the UK. For example, if one of you is under 18 years of age or if you are closely related, you will not be able to marry / form a civil partnership.

You can find out more about who can / cannot get married or form a civil partnership on GOV.UK’s Marriages and Civil Partnerships webpages.

If you’re getting married, you can choose to have either a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony.

If you’re forming a civil partnership, you can have a civil ceremony, and you may be able to have a religious ceremony, please check with the religious building concerned.

Find out more about your ceremony options.

There are lots of venue options for your marriage or civil partnership.

Civil ceremonies

If you decide on a civil ceremony, you can choose to have it at any Register Office in England or Wales or any approved premises in any district in England or Wales, regardless of where you live.

You can see a list of all the approved premises in Bedford Borough on our marriage / civil partnership venues in Bedford Borough page.

You can find approved premises in other parts of England and Wales on GOV.UK’s approved premises list.

Religious ceremonies

You can choose to be married in a church belonging to the Church of England or Church of Wales or in a religious building to which you are affiliated and which must be licensed for both worship and marriage.

Church of England or Church of Wales

Marriages in a church belonging to the Church of England or Church of Wales usually involve the reading of banns, you should contact the vicar of that church who can explain the process.

Other religious buildings

The religious building should be within the same registration district as you live. If you live in a different district to the religious building this must be your usual place of worship. Alternatively, you can set up a residency in the district of your chosen religious building at least 9 days before giving notice.

At some religious venues you may need to book a registrar to attend the ceremony, please check with the venue.

In most cases, you will need to give notice of your marriage or civil partnership (see step 5). Before you book your appointment to give notice:

• you should make a provisional booking with the venue, and
• if you need a registrar, you should also make a booking with the registration service where your ceremony is taking place (see step 2).

If your ceremony is taking place in Bedford Borough please go to our book a marriage / civil partnership page.

If your ceremony is taking place outside Bedford Borough you need to book a registrar with the register office where the marriage / civil partnership is taking place.  

You need to do this before you book your appointment to give notice of your marriage / civil partnership.

You can check which register office you need by searching your venue’s postcode on GOV.UK find a register office.

Giving notice of your intent to marry / form a civil partnership is a legal requirement that must be done in person, in the presence of a registrar, by both of you.

You should go through all the other steps in this step-by-step guide before you book your appointment to give notice. 

You can find out:

• who needs to give notice
• where you need to give notice
• when you should give notice
• what documents you need to bring to the appointment

on our Book an appointment to give notice of your marriage / civil partnership page.