How Much Does It Cost to Get Married at a Register Office?
Weddings · 7 min read · By Kaushik Bathia · Updated 2026-08-24.
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Key takeaways
- The legal minimum to marry in England and Wales is about £155: a £62 statutory ceremony plus £46.50 per person to give notice.
- A marriage certificate is £12.50 per copy and is not included in the ceremony fee.
- Statutory ceremonies are the cheapest option but come with real restrictions, often a set room, a set day and very few guests.
- Larger register office ceremony rooms and weekend dates cost considerably more, in some councils several hundred pounds.
- Fees are set by each local council, so always check your own register office rather than relying on a national figure.
Getting legally married in England and Wales costs about £155 at the absolute minimum. That is a £62 statutory ceremony at a register office, plus £46.50 each to give notice, so £93 for the two of you (Ealing Council, 2026/27). That is the floor, and very few couples pay only that, because the statutory ceremony is a deliberately basic product. Here is what each fee covers, what pushes the total up, and the costs people routinely forget.
What does a register office wedding actually cost?
A statutory ceremony is the basic register office wedding that every council must offer by law. You get a registrar, the statutory room and the legal words. There are no readings, no music, and little choice of date. It costs £62. Notice of marriage is the separate legal step of declaring that you intend to marry. Both of you must do it in person at your local register office, at least 29 days beforehand (GOV.UK); it costs £46.50 each. A couple marrying with the bare legal minimum therefore pays around £155. A marriage certificate is the official record of the marriage, ordered separately at £12.50 per copy, so a realistic floor is about £167.50 (Ealing Council). These are the fees for the legal act of marrying, and nothing else.
Fees are set locally, though, and that matters more than any national figure. The notice fee and the ceremony fee are set nationally. Both rose on 6 April 2026 (SI 2026/233), but everything above the statutory minimum is priced by each council. For example, larger ceremony rooms, Saturday dates and approved venues are all charged separately, and run from the low hundreds upward. A few councils also add an administration fee on top of the notice. Both Westminster and Ealing publish their full schedules. Approved premises are hotels, historic houses and other venues licensed by the council to hold civil ceremonies, and they carry their own registrar attendance fee on top of the venue hire. Check your own register office before budgeting.
| Fee | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Notice, each | £46.50 |
| Ceremony | £62.00 |
| Certificate | £12.50 |
| Minimum, two people | £155.00 |
What the notice of marriage fee covers
Giving notice is a legal requirement, not an optional extra. Both of you must give notice in person at your local register office, and the fee is £46.50 each. You must give notice at least 29 days before the ceremony (GOV.UK). The notice is then displayed publicly for that waiting period. Only after it ends are you allowed to marry. So it has to be done well ahead of the date, not in the final weeks.
If either of you is subject to immigration control, the notice may go to the Home Office. Both the fee and the waiting period can then be higher and longer. If that applies to you, ask the register office directly rather than working from any published national figure, including this one.
Why a statutory ceremony is cheaper, and what you give up
A statutory ceremony is cheap because it is stripped back. It is usually held in a small room, on days the council chooses rather than days you choose. Guest numbers are capped, sometimes at just two witnesses. There is usually no music, no readings and no photography inside the room beyond the signing.
That is a perfectly good way to get married. A growing number of couples do exactly this and hold the celebration separately. What it is not is a small version of a wedding day. Want a room that seats your family, a Saturday, or any say over how the day runs? Then you are buying the council's larger product, and it is priced to match.
The costs people forget
The certificate is the most commonly missed one, at £12.50 per copy. You will need it to change names on records such as passports and bank accounts, and many couples order two. It is not issued automatically as part of the ceremony fee.
Beyond that, the ceremony fee covers the ceremony and nothing around it. Photography, flowers, a meal afterwards, transport and anything you want to wear are all separate. Couples who budget only the statutory fees are often surprised by how quickly a register office wedding stops being a £155 wedding once a lunch for twelve is added.
How far ahead do you need to book?
Further than most couples expect, because the notice of marriage carries a statutory waiting period of 29 days. A notice also expires: you must hold the ceremony within 12 months of giving it (GOV.UK). You cannot give notice and marry the same week. You must also book the ceremony first, because the notice records where the marriage will take place. In practice that means securing the ceremony slot first and then giving notice, rather than the other way round. Popular register offices book out for Saturdays and school holidays a long way ahead, exactly as wedding venues do. A Tuesday morning in February may be free at short notice. If the date matters more to you than the day of the week, you have far more room. If a Saturday matters, treat the register office like any other venue and book early.
Register office or approved venue?
Approved premises are venues the council has licensed for civil ceremonies, such as hotels and stately homes (GOV.UK). An approved venue is a different price bracket again, because you are paying the venue for the room as well as the council for the registrar's attendance. The registrar attendance fee at an external venue is set by the council and is typically several hundred pounds, on top of whatever the venue charges. The decision is usually less about money than about what you want the day to be. A register office ceremony, a restaurant lunch and photographs somewhere you love can make a lovely wedding. It costs a fraction of the £20,604 UK average (Bridebook). It also photographs well, precisely because nothing about it is stretched. A register office wedding is not a smaller version of a big wedding, it is a different thing entirely, and it can be a genuinely lovely one. Fix the legal part cheaply and deliberately, then spend what you have on the part you will remember.
Related: wedding photography, what the average UK wedding costs, what a wedding photographer costs, get in touch.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
About £155 at the legal minimum: £62 for a statutory ceremony plus £46.50 per person to give notice. A marriage certificate is £12.50 per copy on top. Fees are set by each council and larger ceremony rooms cost considerably more.
£46.50 per person, so £93 for a couple. Both of you must give notice in person at your local register office. It must be done ahead of the statutory waiting period, not in the final weeks before the date.
No. A certificate costs £12.50 per copy and is ordered separately. You will need it to change names on passports, bank accounts and other records. So most couples order at least one and often two.
Because it is deliberately basic: a small designated room, days chosen by the council, a strict guest limit that can be as low as two witnesses, and usually no music or readings. You are paying for the legal act of marrying and nothing else.
Usually only limited photography inside the ceremony room, often just the signing. Rules vary by council, so ask yours directly. Many couples take their photographs immediately afterwards outside or at a nearby location.
At a statutory ceremony, often very few, sometimes only the two required witnesses. Larger ceremony rooms take more guests but are a different, more expensive product. Guest limits are set by the individual register office.
Considerably. At an approved venue you pay the venue for the room and the council a registrar attendance fee, typically several hundred pounds, on top of the notice fees. A register office ceremony avoids both.
These are the fees for England and Wales, and they are set by each local council so they vary. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems. Always check your own register office for current figures.
Based in London
Editorial note: every fee here was checked on 24 August 2026. The source is the statutory schedule for 2026/27, published by Ealing Council and Westminster City Council, and against SI 2026/233. Fees above the statutory minimum are set by each council, so check your own register office. Written and reviewed by Kaushik Bathia — more about the author, or contact the studio.
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