2 | WEDDINGSnow January 2015

HERE’S A LOT TO THINK

ABOUT WHEN PLANNING

A WEDDING IN IRELAND: thevenue, the church, the dress,the guests – the list goes on.But one thing that is oftenoverlooked initially is the

legal side of marriage. It may notbe as romantic as the dress andthe flowers, but it affects everyoneand should therefore be under-stood before going ahead withother plans.

DoYou Meet the Requirements?Marriage is a serious commit-ment and a legally binding con-tract that will affect every aspectof the lives of both parties. Be-cause of this, there are a number

of strict rules and regulationsgoverning marriage. But meetingthese requirements is prettystraight forward:Both parties should be over the

age of 18 and single, widowed ordivorced. You must freely consentto and have the mental capacity tounderstand the marriage, and youshould not be related by blood ormarriage to a certain degree.At the moment you must be

of opposite sex, but there willbe a referendum in 2015 that willdetermine whether or not same-sex marriage will become legalin Ireland.Finally, the couple must give the

Registrar notice and be issuedwith a Marriage Registration Form.

Giving NoticeA couple getting married in Ire-land must give notice of their in-tention to marry to a Registrar atleast three months before thedate of the wedding. This appliesto religious and non-religiousmarriages alike.Notice can be given to any reg-

istrar in any location, but must begiven in person and will cost you€200. You will need to bringpassports, birth certificates, thedate and location of the wed-ding, divorce decrees if either ofyou is divorced, death certificatesif either of you is widowed, de-tails of the person who will per-form the marriage and the namesand dates of birth of your twowitnesses.A legal declaration will be pro-

duced for you to sign. This willstate that you know of no legalreason why you should not bemarried. Finally, the Registrar willissue you with a Marriage Regis-tration form, and the couple willhave six months to get marriedbefore the process needs to berepeated.The process of serving notice

of marriage and acquiring theMarriage Registration Form is aseparate process from arrangingthe marriage with a registrar.Further information on regis-

tration can be found at welfare.ieor citizensinformation.ie.

Pre-Marriage CoursesCouples wishing to have aCatholic marriage are usually re-quired to complete a pre-mar-riage course. These coursesrange between €100 and €250 inprice and are available from vari-ous different companies.Generally a pre-marriage

course will allow the couple todiscuss topics that may not comeup in every day conversation,coaching them in communica-tion and how to manage conflictin the marriage. Other topicscovered include commitment,parenthood, fertility awareness,well-being, sexuality and inti-macy.There are a range of courses

available and your church maydictate which one you do – someare one day and others for aweekend. See accord.ie, aval-onrc.ie and together.ie.

Choosing a LocationOnce the Marriage RegistrationForm has been issued and theheavy stuff has been dealt with,you can start to make plans for

feature

“A pre-marriagecoursewill allowthecoupleto discusstopics thatmay notcome upin everyday con-versation,coachingthem incommu-nicationand howto man-age con-flict in themar-riage.”

TheLawNecessitiesThe legal side of marriage is ofTen ThelasT Thing on your mind when planninga wedding, buT The niTTy-griTTy parTs ofThe process shouldn’T be overlooked,wriTes Jessica Thompson.

your wedding. But there arestill legal implications onthe 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 tothe public and be ap-proved by the Registrar.This means you can’t holda wedding in your own pri-vate home, but you can getmarried in a hotel or otherlocation that meets the re-quirements.Since 2014 weddings can

be held outdoors, on a cliffor at some other signifi-cant location (if you’re will-ing to risk the Irishweather!), but the locationmust still have public ac-cess and be approved bythe Registrar.Marriages can only be

solemnised by someone onthe Registrar of Solemnis-ers. You can get this at theRegistry Office and it is gen-erally comprised of civil reg-istrars and clergy of variousreligious bodies.

Types of LegalWeddings in IrelandThere are a couple of dif-ferent types of weddingsthat are legal in Ireland, in-cluding secular and reli-gious weddings.A civil ceremony can take

place in a Registry Office oranother Registrar-approvedvenue. Civil ceremonies canonly be performed by regis-trars outside the registry of-fice on certain days andincur an extra cost, and arenever performed at week-ends. To book an appoint-ment with a registraronline, go to crsappoint-ments.ie.An alternative to the civil

ceremony is the Humanistceremony which is moreflexible to the wishes ofthe couple. It can includepoetry, music and othertraditions according to thecouple’s own preferencesand is performed by a hu-manist celebrant. For moreinformation, visit human-ism.ie.If you want to get mar-

ried in a Catholic Church,there are certain steps youneed to follow. Firstly, youmust contact the local

parish clergy and book thechurch in which you’d liketo get married.The Pre-Nuptial Inquiry

Forms should be com-pleted and will requirebaptism and confirmationcertificates, and proof offreedom to marry, whichcan be obtained from yourparish priest.You will then be re-

quired to meet with a civilregistrar to give notice ofyour intention to marryand should bring the rele-vant documentation alongwith details of the churchand priest who will be per-forming the ceremony.After the wedding, the

priest will ensure the Mar-riage Registration Form issigned by the couple, thetwo witnesses and himself.The couple will then haveto return the form to theRegistrar’s Office withinone month of getting mar-ried. Get someone respon-sible to take the form onthe day and put it some-where safe.The priest will ask you to

make a verbal declarationthat there is no civil im-pediment within two daysbefore the wedding. Thismeans you will be asked ifthere is any reason youshould not get married.It is common practice for

the priest to ask this of thecouple when they enter thechurch or at the weddingrehearsal if one takes placebefore the wedding. It mustbe done in the presence oftwo witnesses.For more information on

getting married in aCatholic Church, see get-tingmarried.ie.The legalities of a reli-

gious wedding changefrom church to church andauthorities of each religionwill have detailed require-ments.But each marriage will

require a Marriage Regis-tration form on the day ofthe wedding and advancenotice of the weddingdate, and couples will berequired to sit down withtheir solemniser to discussthe details.For more information on

the legalities of marriage,visit citizensinformation.ie.

January 2015 WEDDINGSnow | 3

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