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Getting Married in Scotland

Civil Marriages in Approved Places

The Marriage (Scotland) Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 27 February 2002, received Royal Assent on 4 April 2002 and came fully into force on 25 April 2002. The Marriage (Scotland) Act 2002 is available on the Office of Public Sector Information website.

The Marriage (Scotland) Act 2002 :-

• permits civil marriages to be solemnised at locations other than registration offices;

• authorises local councils to approve locations for that purpose and to charge fees to meet related costs and for connected purposes; and

• enables the Registrar General for Scotland to give guidance on the above to local councils.

The Marriage (Approval of Places) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (S.S.I. 2002 No. 260) were approved by the Scottish Parliament on 28 May 2002 and came into force on 10 June 2002. The text is available on the Office of Public Sector Information website. In addition, the Registrar General issued his Guidance to Scottish Local Authorities on the Approval of Places for Civil Marriage (104 Kb pdf file).

(Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf)):

All of the necessary legislation and guidance is now in place. People who wish to have a civil marriage in a place of their choosing should contact their local registration office in the first instance. People who wish to apply to have a place approved for civil marriages should contact their local authority. The register of approved places can be viewed either by council or place name:

Approved Places for Civil Marriage by Place Name. (98 Kb PDF)

If you have any enquiries we have not answered here or in the leaflets please contact our marriage preliminaries section using our contact form. They will be glad to help.

Gàidhlig