If you wish to marry by civil ceremony, this is to say at a register office or other approved building for civil marriage, you should first contact the Superintendent Registrar of the district where you wish to marry. You may marry at any register office or approved premises of your choice in England and Wales. However, for a marriage in an approved premises, you will need to make arrangements at the venue in question. In addition you will need to give a formal notice of your marriage to the Superintendent Registrar of the district(s) where you live.

In the United Kingdom, pre-nuptial agreements currently have no legal standing. The divorce courts have the last word in the division of all matrimonial property and would ignore any pre-nuptial agreement if they thought that it was in any way unreasonable to either of the parties involved, particularly regarding to the maintenance and housing of children.

Although pre-marital agreements (also called pre-nuptial contracts) and pre-registration agreements are not automatically binding in English law currently, they are increasingly being given more weight and may therefore still be useful.

A notice of matrimony is valid for three months only. Therefore you may not give notice of marriage to the superintendent registrar more than three months before the date of your wedding. However, it should be possible for you to make an advance (provisional) booking with the superintendent registrar of the district where you wish to marry up to twelve months before the ceremony. The earlier you arrange to book the marriage the more likely it is that you will get the date and time of your choice. The superintendent registrar will be able to give you more accurate information in this respect.

If you wish to marry in England and Wales you may do so either by civil or religious ceremony. A civil ceremony can take place at a register office or other premises approved by the local authority for marriages (e.g. hotel, stately home etc.). A religious ceremony can take place at a Church or Chapel of the Church of England or Church of Wales or any other place of worship which has been formally registered by the Registrar General for marriages.