Getting legally married in Cornwall

The rules on where and how you can legally marry decide a lot of your other choices, so it is worth understanding them early. This is a plain-English overview for England and Wales. For your own circumstances, check with Cornwall Council's registration service, the parish, or GOV.UK.

Your options

• A civil ceremony at a register office or an approved venue, conducted by registrars. Approved venues can also hold the ceremony outdoors in their grounds.
• A Church of England or Church in Wales wedding, usually after banns. See church weddings near Rock.
• A wedding in another religious building that is registered for marriages, sometimes with a registrar or an authorised person present.
• A celebrant-led ceremony anywhere you like: a beach, a field, a garden. In England this has no legal effect on its own, so couples pair it with a short legal ceremony.

Giving notice

For a civil ceremony, and for most religious weddings outside the Church of England, you each give notice of marriage in person at a register office, normally in the area where you live. You then wait at least 28 full days before the wedding can take place, and notice can be given up to a year in advance. You'll need to bring identity documents and proof of address, and pay a fee. If either of you is not a British or Irish citizen, extra rules apply and the waiting period can be longer, so check GOV.UK well ahead.

For a Church of England wedding, banns or a common licence usually replace civil notice. The parish will advise.

A beach or field ceremony

A beach or a private field isn't approved premises, so it can't host a legal civil ceremony. The usual approach has two parts:

1. A short legal ceremony at a register office, on the same day or in the days before. Many register offices offer a simple statutory ceremony with two witnesses, at a lower fee.
2. The ceremony you think of as your wedding, led by an independent celebrant, a friend or family member, wherever you want it and written however you like.

This gives you complete freedom over the words, music, timing and setting. Plenty of couples find it the most personal part of the day.

Things that often surprise people

• Registrars' diaries fill up for summer Saturdays, just like venues. Book the registrars as soon as your date and venue are confirmed.
• The names and details on your notice must match your documents exactly.
• At a legal ceremony you need two witnesses who understand what is happening.
• Celebrant-led ceremonies have no fixed rules, but if you want one on someone else's land or beach, you still need their permission.

Next: choosing a venue or the planning timeline.