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Religious Marriage in Scotland

A religious marriage , which can take place anywhere, may be solemnised only by a minister, clergyman, pastor, priest or other person entitled to do so under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977.

There is no residential qualification required for marriage in Scotland.

The legal preliminaries to marriage in Scotland are the same whether it be a religious or civil marriage and are fully explained in a separate leaflet called 'Marriage in Scotland' (RM1). This information leaflet together with Marriage Notice forms, (Form M10) and a fees leaflet are available from any Registrar in Scotland if you are unable to download them from our provided links.

Both the Bride and Groom should complete and sign a Marriage Notice form each. The forms need to be returned to the Registrar for the district where the marriage is to take place, within three months, but at least 15 days prior to the marriage.

Please note that although the minimum notice period is 15 days, additional time needs to be included to enable the Marriage Schedule to be collected within the week prior to the marriage, so please allow a minimum of three weeks. Ideally, we would recommend that marriage notice forms are submitted to the Registrar 4 to 6 weeks before the date of the marriage. If you are in any doubt as to where you should return your Marriage Notice forms, please do not hesitate to contact any of our registration offices for advice.

What you will need

The appropriate fees and both birth certificates should accompany the completed marriage notice forms.

The current fees payable when submitting documents for a religious marriage are:

£26.00 for each Marriage Notice Form
£8.50 per Marriage certificate

Additional documents will be required to accompany the forms if either party has been previously married or in a civil partnership. The Registrar will be able to help you with this.

If either the Bride or Groom is a British national and was born after 1982, a current British passport has to be produced.

If either the Bride or Groom is a foreign national, please ask the Registrar for advice about what additional document you may have to provide. If you are a foreign national, it is advisable to allow sufficient time for submitting marriage notice forms where additional documentation is required.

You will need to arrange for 2 people to be present to act as witnesses to your marriage (usually best man and bridesmaid). The 2 witnesses must be aged 16 or over and be capable of fully understanding the proceedings. The Registrar must be notified of the full names and addresses of both witnesses.

Once the Registrar is satisfied that the legal preliminaries to marriage have been fulfilled, the Marriage Schedule will be completed.

Within the week prior to the marriage, the bride or groom need to call at the registration office where they have lodged notice in order to collect their Marriage Schedule.

The Marriage Schedule

This is a very important document and no marriage can proceed without it.

The Marriage Schedule must be produced before the marriage ceremony to the person performing the marriage. Immediately after the ceremony, the schedule must be signed in black fountain pen by both the bride and groom, the person performing the marriage and by the two witnesses.

The completed Marriage Schedule must then be returned by hand to the registration office from where it was issued, within 3 working days, to enable the marriage to be registered and any marriage certificate can then be prepared.

For general information about getting married in Scotland visit the General Register Office Website