Hello young lovers - if you’re under 18 you’re going to need the written permission of your parents or guardian before you can tie the knot. Here’s when you start wishing you had kept your bedroom tidy and behaved like a grown up when it came to being home on time… The minimum legal age for getting married in England and Wales is 16.
All weddings must take place between 8am and 6pm. The 6pm deadline was introduced before electric light was in common use, for fear people might marry the wrong partner in the dark. Imagine being engaged to a Brad Pitt look-a-like and coming out of the dingy church married to someone resembling John Prescott…
Unless you’re marrying in the Church of England or the Church in Wales by banns or common licence, each of you has to give notice of marriage to your local superintendent registrar(s), although you can be married in a different district if you wish. Both of you must have lived in a registration district in England or Wales for a minimum of seven days immediately before giving notice at the register office.
The notice of marriage is valid for 12 months so you cannot give notice of marriage more than 12 months before the date set for your wedding. After giving notice you must wait a further 15 full days before the ceremony can take place.
