Civil Partnerships can take place in any Registry Office in England or Wales, or at any venue approved by the local authority. These can include stately homes and other prestigious buildings, hotels and restaurants. The Venues link (top of page) has further information.
Your first step:
You will need to formally give notice of your civil partnership. This involves letting your local council's registration office know about your intention to register a Civil Partnership. The Registry Offices link has a list of the local council Registry offices.
What documentation do I require?
You will also need to show the Registrar documentary evidence of your name, age and nationality - ideally in the form of your passport. You will also be asked to provide evidence of your address. There is also a fee to be paid which can be confirmed by the local office.
Note: - If you have been married before or party to a previous civil partnership, you will also need to produce documents that confirm that you are now free to register a civil partnership. These could include: divorce decree absolute bearing the court's original stamp final order of dissolution of a civil partnership death certificate of your former husband, wife or civil partner.
On the day of your Civil Partnership:
You will need to bring at least two other people who can sign as witnesses. A civil partnership cannot have any religious content, but you may be able to arrange for individual touches such as non-religious music and readings to be added to the legal wording, and for the ceremony to be videoed. The registry office where you intend to marry will be able to tell you more about the options available.
Readings:
There are thousands of readings which are available for your ceremony. We have a chosen a few to feature on here which will hopefully guide you to find the right ones for you. Click on the Readings link.
This document has been created from the information provided by the registry office and the Directgov website.
Click here to visit the Directgov page.
