If you are planning a marriage in a religious building you should first seek their permission directly before you can make any other arrangements.

If you are getting marriage in a Church of England or Church in Wales church, they will advise you on how to have your banns read (if you aren’t subject to immigration control). If you are subject to immigration control, or you are getting married in any other church or religious building you will need to give notice of intention to marry at the register office of the district where you live at the latest one month before the ceremony date.

In order to be married in any religious building, you will need to provide evidence that it is: 

• in the district where at least one of you resides, or
• the usual place of worship of at least one of the parties to be married, or
• your nearest place of worship for your religion.

Most religious buildings licensed for marriages have an authorised person to register the marriage, so a registrar from the Kensington and Chelsea Register Office does not need to attend.  A minority however do not, so if you are getting married in a religious building in Kensington and Chelsea, check with them if they have an authorised person. If they don’t, please contact the Kensington and Chelsea Register Office to book a registrar to attend on the day to register your marriage.

Some of the religious buildings within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are licensed for worship but not for marriages. Please check with them directly when arranging your marriage ceremony that they are licensed for marriages as well as for worship.

If you represent a religious building and would like to: licence it for worship; license it for opposite and / or same sex marriages, or civil partnerships; or simply update us with any changes to your current licence or list of authorised persons, please contact us directly at [email protected]

• If you are marrying in a religious building, you will still be required to give a notice of marriage, at the register office in the district where you have spent the preceding 7 days.
• The marriage schedule will be issued by the district you are marrying in by the Superintendent Registrar following the 28-day waiting period. 
• You must arrange for the marriage schedule to be collected and taken to the person who will perform the marriage at the religious building before your ceremony.
• If you are marrying in the Church of England / Church of Wales, you will need to contact the church in the parish where you intend to marry.

We must ensure that all marriage documents and schedules are accounted for and are returned to Kensington and Chelsea to be registered and a certificate issued to the couple. 

To let us know of forthcoming weddings, please complete the form below. This information will be used by the Register Office to co-ordinate a diary of marriages in the district and allocate resources for the legal registration of marriages following a marriage:

Complete the form

If the marriage does not proceed because of a cancellation or a postponement, then you should let us know this immediately. Similarly, you should inform us if a marriage document or schedule is lost or is destroyed. 

After the marriage has been solemnized, the signed marriage document or schedule should be returned to us within 21 days.
 

The relevant person from the religious building will return the completed, signed marriage schedule to Chelsea Old Town Hall within 21 days. The details will then be entered onto the electronic marriage register.

After your wedding ceremony has been solemnized and the authorised person has returned the marriage document or schedule to Kensington and Chelsea, you may order your marriage certificates online under “Certificates”.