1. 2 | WEDDINGSnow January 2015
HERE’S A LOT TO THINK
ABOUT WHEN PLANNING
A WEDDING IN IRELAND: the
venue, the church, the dress,
the guests – the list goes on.
But one thing that is often
overlooked initially is the
legal side of marriage. It may not
be as romantic as the dress and
the flowers, but it affects everyone
and should therefore be under-
stood before going ahead with
other plans.
Do You Meet the Requirements?
Marriage is a serious commit-
ment and a legally binding con-
tract that will affect every aspect
of the lives of both parties. Be-
cause of this, there are a number
of strict rules and regulations
governing marriage. But meeting
these requirements is pretty
straight forward:
Both parties should be over the
age of 18 and single, widowed or
divorced. You must freely consent
to and have the mental capacity to
understand the marriage, and you
should not be related by blood or
marriage to a certain degree.
At the moment you must be
of opposite sex, but there will
be a referendum in 2015 that will
determine whether or not same-
sex marriage will become legal
in Ireland.
Finally, the couple must give the
Registrar notice and be issued
with a Marriage Registration Form.
Giving Notice
A couple getting married in Ire-
land must give notice of their in-
tention to marry to a Registrar at
least three months before the
date of the wedding. This applies
to religious and non-religious
marriages alike.
Notice can be given to any reg-
istrar in any location, but must be
given in person and will cost you
€200. You will need to bring
passports, birth certificates, the
date and location of the wed-
ding, divorce decrees if either of
you is divorced, death certificates
if either of you is widowed, de-
tails of the person who will per-
form the marriage and the names
and dates of birth of your two
witnesses.
A legal declaration will be pro-
duced for you to sign. This will
state that you know of no legal
reason why you should not be
married. Finally, the Registrar will
issue you with a Marriage Regis-
tration form, and the couple will
have six months to get married
before the process needs to be
repeated.
The process of serving notice
of marriage and acquiring the
Marriage Registration Form is a
separate process from arranging
the marriage with a registrar.
Further information on regis-
tration can be found at welfare.ie
or citizensinformation.ie.
Pre-Marriage Courses
Couples wishing to have a
Catholic marriage are usually re-
quired to complete a pre-mar-
riage course. These courses
range between €100 and €250 in
price and are available from vari-
ous different companies.
Generally a pre-marriage
course will allow the couple to
discuss topics that may not come
up in every day conversation,
coaching them in communica-
tion and how to manage conflict
in the marriage. Other topics
covered include commitment,
parenthood, fertility awareness,
well-being, sexuality and inti-
macy.
There are a range of courses
available and your church may
dictate which one you do – some
are one day and others for a
weekend. See accord.ie, aval-
onrc.ie and together.ie.
Choosing a Location
Once the Marriage Registration
Form has been issued and the
heavy stuff has been dealt with,
you can start to make plans for
feature
“Apre-
marriage
course
willallow
the
couple
todiscuss
topicsthat
maynot
comeup
inevery
daycon-
versation,
coaching
themin
commu-
nication
andhow
toman-
agecon-
flictinthe
mar-
riage.”
TheLaw
NecessitiesThe legal side of marriage is ofTen The
lasT Thing on your mind when planning
a wedding, buT The niTTy-griTTy parTs of
The process shouldn’T be overlooked,
wriTes Jessica Thompson.

2. your wedding. But there are
still legal implications on
the location of the wedding.
A wedding can be held
in a church, a registry of-
fice or a public location.
Weddings in public loca-
tions must be accessible to
the public and be ap-
proved by the Registrar.
This means you can’t hold
a wedding in your own pri-
vate home, but you can get
married in a hotel or other
location that meets the re-
quirements.
Since 2014 weddings can
be held outdoors, on a cliff
or at some other signifi-
cant location (if you’re will-
ing to risk the Irish
weather!), but the location
must still have public ac-
cess and be approved by
the Registrar.
Marriages can only be
solemnised by someone on
the Registrar of Solemnis-
ers. You can get this at the
Registry Office and it is gen-
erally comprised of civil reg-
istrars and clergy of various
religious bodies.
Types of Legal
Weddings in Ireland
There are a couple of dif-
ferent types of weddings
that are legal in Ireland, in-
cluding secular and reli-
gious weddings.
A civil ceremony can take
place in a Registry Office or
another Registrar-approved
venue. Civil ceremonies can
only be performed by regis-
trars outside the registry of-
fice on certain days and
incur an extra cost, and are
never performed at week-
ends. To book an appoint-
ment with a registrar
online, go to crsappoint-
ments.ie.
An alternative to the civil
ceremony is the Humanist
ceremony which is more
flexible to the wishes of
the couple. It can include
poetry, music and other
traditions according to the
couple’s own preferences
and is performed by a hu-
manist celebrant. For more
information, visit human-
ism.ie.
If you want to get mar-
ried in a Catholic Church,
there are certain steps you
need to follow. Firstly, you
must contact the local
parish clergy and book the
church in which you’d like
to get married.
The Pre-Nuptial Inquiry
Forms should be com-
pleted and will require
baptism and confirmation
certificates, and proof of
freedom to marry, which
can be obtained from your
parish priest.
You will then be re-
quired to meet with a civil
registrar to give notice of
your intention to marry
and should bring the rele-
vant documentation along
with details of the church
and priest who will be per-
forming the ceremony.
After the wedding, the
priest will ensure the Mar-
riage Registration Form is
signed by the couple, the
two witnesses and himself.
The couple will then have
to return the form to the
Registrar’s Office within
one month of getting mar-
ried. Get someone respon-
sible to take the form on
the day and put it some-
where safe.
The priest will ask you to
make a verbal declaration
that there is no civil im-
pediment within two days
before the wedding. This
means you will be asked if
there is any reason you
should not get married.
It is common practice for
the priest to ask this of the
couple when they enter the
church or at the wedding
rehearsal if one takes place
before the wedding. It must
be done in the presence of
two witnesses.
For more information on
getting married in a
Catholic Church, see get-
tingmarried.ie.
The legalities of a reli-
gious wedding change
from church to church and
authorities of each religion
will have detailed require-
ments.
But each marriage will
require a Marriage Regis-
tration form on the day of
the wedding and advance
notice of the wedding
date, and couples will be
required to sit down with
their solemniser to discuss
the details.
For more information on
the legalities of marriage,
visit citizensinformation.ie.
January 2015 WEDDINGSnow | 3
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