register marrige

jim-mcdee · 26-01-2015 4:47pm #1

We are getting married in the summer and my to be wife tasked me with getting the wedding certificate sorted out. I have been looking for 1/2 hour and my head is spinning. Can anyone give me the simpletons guide to registering a wedding? Do we have to register in the same region we are getting married? IE we live in north dublin getting married in kilkenny. God damn this is so complicated. I totally agree with my uncle rip all women should be married and all men should be single.

seamus · 26-01-2015 4:54pm

Basically you apply first for a wedding licence, the registry office sends you out all of the documentation that you need and on the day that you get married, the solemniser signs the documents (along with you), and then you post it all back into the registrar who registers the marriage.

So what you need to do is make an appointment with the registrar who will take all of your details, check your documentation and set you up on the system.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/getting_married/getting_married.html

You do not have to register in any particular area. We found that the waiting lists in Dublin were long when we were getting married, so we went and did it in Naas instead, even though we were from Dublin.

The two things you need to make sure of, is that your solemniser is actually legally capable of confirming your marriage. Most religious ones will be, but other ones may not be. And you need to make sure you send in the documentation after you get married. I think you have 30 days to send it in, but lots of people get caught out - they get married, go on honeymoon and arrive back, and then discover the forms sitting in a drawer 60 days after they got married. What they have to do then is go back to the registry office and have a registry wedding in order to get legally married.

MsBubbles · 26-01-2015 4:56pm

Hi jim-mcdee,
gro.ie is a great website. You need to ring up the HSE today to make an appointment because there's a 3 month waiting just to get an appointment. You and your bride need to go into the HSE registration office together and bring the following documents, Birth certs for the 2 of you, proof of divorce if either you of were previously married. The names and dates of birth of your witnesses (usually the best man for the groom and maid of honour for the bride)
Plus the fee approx €250. All being well you will receive a marriage licence which you bring with you to the ceremony.
The celebrant, witness and bride and groom sign this licence which must be presented to hse registration office within 4 weeks of the wedding.

pooch90 · 26-01-2015 5:54pm

You also need proof of address for your appointment. The form they will issue at that appointment is called your Marriage Registration Form (MRF).
Basically, all you need do is make the appointment online at whatever HSE office suits you. They will fill in most of the data for you at the apt. However,if you want to be a bit more proactive, there is a Data Capture Form available to download that you can have filled in prior to your appointment.

It looks very confusing but actually quite straightforward in the end.

You need to have this form gotten at least 3 months before proposed date of wedding.
Know the details of your solemniser too.

Peregrinus · 27-01-2015 10:20am

seamus wrote: »

. . . he two things you need to make sure of, is that your solemniser is actually legally capable of confirming your marriage. Most religious ones will be, but other ones may not be. And you need to make sure you send in the documentation after you get married. I think you have 30 days to send it in, but lots of people get caught out - they get married, go on honeymoon and arrive back, and then discover the forms sitting in a drawer 60 days after they got married. What they have to do then is go back to the registry office and have a registry wedding in order to get legally married.

Actually, no. Once the marriage has been solemnised you are legally married, and you can't change that by failing to return the completed MRF. Therefore, you can't marry again. You won't be able to get a marriage certificate, though, to evidence your marraige until you complete the registration requirements. If the worst comes to the worst and the form is lost or destroyed before being returned, they'll give you another form and you'll have to go back to the celebrant and the witnesses and get them to sign it so you can register your marriage and get a marriage certificate.

nosietoes · 27-01-2015 1:07pm

I booked into the Dublin office a couple of weeks ago, and the wait was less than 3 weeks. Going in next Tuesday. The fee is €200.

PhoenixParker · 27-01-2015 1:40pm

nosietoes wrote: »

I booked into the Dublin office a couple of weeks ago, and the wait was less than 3 weeks. Going in next Tuesday. The fee is €200.

Pretty much the same.
We went in on Friday morning without himself's birth cert translated and discovered we'd both have to go back rather than just being able to post it in.
Since we had the day off anyway, we headed to the embassy and managed to get it sorted. We emailed once we had it and she gave us a second appointment that afternoon to finish off the notification process.

There's no 3 month waiting list to do the notification appointment at the moment.

Basically you ring the office you want to attend and make an appointment. This appointment needs to be at least three months before your ceremony.

Show up with
1) Your birth certs
2) Your passports
3) Proof of address
4) Documents relating to any previous marriages

Useful but less important:
5) Know the name of your solemniser*
6) Know the name & birth date of two of your family/friends
7) The date you plan to get married

The registrar will go through the forms with you and fill them out. The solemniser, witnesses & date can be changed at any time so don't matter so much. Your date needs to be within six months of your notification date though.

The solemniser is the priest, humanist or civil registrar. If you want a civil ceremony, they'll put the name in for you, you should book the date when you reserve your notification appointment & you do need to get organised a bit further in advance, though if you're flexible on the time & date you'll get something

ShaShaBear · 27-01-2015 1:48pm

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Pretty much the same.
We went in on Friday morning without himself's birth cert translated and discovered we'd both have to go back rather than just being able to post it in.
Since we had the day off anyway, we headed to the embassy and managed to get it sorted. We emailed once we had it and she gave us a second appointment that afternoon to finish off the notification process.

There's no 3 month waiting list to do the notification appointment at the moment.

Basically you ring the office you want to attend and make an appointment. This appointment needs to be at least three months before your ceremony.

Show up with
1) Your birth certs
2) Your passports
3) Proof of address
4) Documents relating to any previous marriages

Useful but less important:
5) Know the name of your solemniser*
6) Know the name & birth date of two of your family/friends
7) The date you plan to get married

The registrar will go through the forms with you and fill them out. The solemniser, witnesses & date can be changed at any time so don't matter so much. Your date needs to be within six months of your notification date though.

The solemniser is the priest, humanist or civil registrar. If you want a civil ceremony, they'll put the name in for you, you should book the date when you reserve your notification appointment & you do need to get organised a bit further in advance, though if you're flexible on the time & date you'll get something

So just to clarify here, if we have a civil ceremony (either in a registry office or in our venue), they will pick the person to do it? I thought I had to, which was causing major confusion :P
And when we book this appointment to get the marriage thingy, our wedding date needs to be no more than 6 months from then? I find the info online so baffling!

PhoenixParker · 27-01-2015 2:06pm

ShaShaBear wrote: »

So just to clarify here, if we have a civil ceremony (either in a registry office or in our venue), they will pick the person to do it? I thought I had to, which was causing major confusion :P
And when we book this appointment to get the marriage thingy, our wedding date needs to be no more than 6 months from then? I find the info online so baffling!

If it's a civil ceremony in the registry office they will nominate the registrar on the day. Book the ceremony first because that's much more difficult to schedule.
I'm not sure what you do if it's a civil ceremony outside the registry office.

The notification appointment (when you fill out the forms & hand over the paperwork) can be as far in advance as you like (within reason), but must be at least 3 months in advance of the day you want to have your ceremony.

At the notification appointment you will tell them the date you plan to get married. They will fill your notification form out so that it says that date. Your notification is valid for any day up to six months after that. That means you can move the ceremony date if something changes, but you can only move it to dates after they put down on the form.

ShaShaBear · 27-01-2015 2:13pm

PhoenixParker wrote: »

If it's a civil ceremony in the registry office they will nominate the registrar on the day. Book the ceremony first because that's much more difficult to schedule.
I'm not sure what you do if it's a civil ceremony outside the registry office.

The notification appointment (when you fill out the forms & hand over the paperwork) can be as far in advance as you like (within reason), but must be at least 3 months in advance of the day you want to have your ceremony.

At the notification appointment you will tell them the date you plan to get married. They will fill your notification form out so that it says that date. Your notification is valid for any day up to six months after that. That means you can move the ceremony date if something changes, but you can only move it to dates after they put down on the form.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh... now I getcha

jim-mcdee · 28-01-2015 10:57am

Thanks. Just made an appointment over the phone. I tried to do it online first that led me on the path to insanity. I have a good idea now of what I need to do.

seamus · 28-01-2015 2:13pm

Peregrinus wrote: »

Actually, no. Once the marriage has been solemnised you are legally married, and you can't change that by failing to return the completed MRF. Therefore, you can't marry again. You won't be able to get a marriage certificate, though, to evidence your marraige until you complete the registration requirements. If the worst comes to the worst and the form is lost or destroyed before being returned, they'll give you another form and you'll have to go back to the celebrant and the witnesses and get them to sign it so you can register your marriage and get a marriage certificate.

I stand corrected. The marriage is technically legal, you're just not registered.

It actually looks you really have 56 days to return the MRF. After that period you'll get a notification from the registrar demanding that you return it. 14 days after that you'll get a letter demanding your presence at the registration office. Failure to comply with that is a €2k fine and/or six months in jail. Pretty hefty.

Roddylarge · 28-01-2015 4:50pm

When you register they ask for a proof of address in the form of a utility bill, will my mobile phone bill be ok?

And also do you need to colour photocopy your passport before you get there, or will they do that for you?

pooch90 · 28-01-2015 6:25pm

They won't accept mobile phone bills. Landline or utility bill is best. I brought just about everything official I had with my address on including driving licence and passport. If it's your parents home place you live in, get them to write a letter stating you live there,if no bills in your name.
We photocopied the stuff before we went,just on scanner/printer.

Roddylarge · 28-01-2015 8:33pm

Thank you Pooch90,
I can get a few different forms of address, I'm sure a bank statement will work aswell.
Good idea with the scanner, I have a colour printer in work so that one less expense to worry about.

pooch90 · 28-01-2015 8:47pm

I just brought as much as I possibly could so I wouldn't have to go back.
To be honest, it seems like they will be stricter than they actually were and I didn't need much.
The people we dealt with were very nice.
They fill in your parents names. My dad always went by his middle name and as he had died I wanted the name we called him on the form,she put it in brackets. Silly little thing but it meant a lot,im a bit of a soppy tart really!!

register marrige

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