How to Get a Copy of a Marriage Certificate in the UK

To get a copy of a marriage certificate in England and Wales, order online from the General Register Office (GRO) at gro.gov.uk. The standard fee is £12.50, with delivery in around four days. No appointment needed — the whole process takes about ten minutes. Here is everything you need to know, including what information the certificate contains and how to search records going back to 1837.

If you are researching family history rather than replacing a lost certificate, there are also free online indexes worth checking before you pay — more on those below.

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What Information Do You Need to Order?

The more detail you can provide, the faster and cheaper the process. You will need at least:

• Full names of both parties to the marriage
• Year of the marriage (or a narrow range)
• Registration district where the marriage took place

If you have the GRO index reference number — a unique identifier that points to the exact record in the register — the GRO can locate the entry immediately and the search fee does not apply. Without it, the GRO charges an additional £3.50 search fee on top of the certificate cost.

How to Find the GRO Index Reference

The GRO index covers all registered marriages in England and Wales from 1 July 1837 onwards. The free index is searchable at FreeBMD.org.uk(volunteers have transcribed most records up to 1992) and also within the GRO's own website. Search by surname and year to find the entry — the reference number is shown alongside the result. Note it down before you order: it saves you money and speeds up processing.

For marriages from 1984 onwards, the GRO online index includes mothers' maiden names, which makes searching easier when you know the mother's name but not the exact district.

How to Order a Marriage Certificate

Online (Fastest and Cheapest)

Go to gro.gov.uk, register or sign in, and select “Order certificates.” Provide the details above, pay by card, and choose your delivery option. Standard delivery (£12.50) arrives in around four working days. Priority delivery (£38.50) arrives the next working day if ordered before 4pm.

By Phone

Call the GRO on 0300 123 1837 during office hours. The agent will take your details and process the order. Fees are the same as online. Useful if you are unsure which reference number to use and want to talk it through first.

By Post

Download and complete the GRO's certificate application form and send it with a cheque or postal order to the address on the form. Postal applications typically take longer to process than online orders.

From a Local Register Office

You can also order from the register office that holds the original entry — usually the one in the district where the marriage took place. Local offices set their own processing times. This is worth considering if the marriage happened recently (the local copy may be quicker to retrieve) or if you want to collect in person.

Fees at a Glance

• Standard certificate (with GRO reference): £12.50 — approx. 4 working days
• Standard certificate (no GRO reference): £12.50 + £3.50 search fee
• Priority service: £38.50 — next working day (if ordered before 4pm)
• Scotland: £12.00 + postage from the National Records of Scotland
• Northern Ireland: £15.00 from the General Register Office for NI

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What Information Is on a Marriage Certificate?

A certified copy of a marriage certificate for England and Wales contains considerably more detail than most people expect. The certificate records:

• Full names of both parties
• Ages at the time of marriage (or “of full age” for those over 21)
• Occupations of both parties
• Residential addresses at the time of the marriage
• Names and occupations of both fathers
• Whether each party was single, widowed, or divorced
• Names of two witnesses
• Name of the officiating minister or registrar
• The church or register office where the ceremony took place

For genealogical research, the fathers' names are often the most valuable detail — they can confirm a generation you already know or open up a new line of the family tree entirely. A certificate from the 1890s, for instance, gives you the maiden name and married name in one document, linking two family branches at a stroke.

England and Wales vs Scotland vs Northern Ireland

The GRO in Southport covers England and Wales only. For other parts of the UK, you need to go elsewhere:

• Scotland: Civil registration began on 1 January 1855. Order certificates from the National Records of Scotland (NRS)via scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Scottish certificates also include mothers' maiden names — a bonus for researchers. Certificates for marriages 75 or more years ago can be purchased as uncertified digital scans for £1.50.
• Northern Ireland: Order from the General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) at nidirect.gov.uk. Civil registration began in Northern Ireland on 1 January 1864.
• Republic of Ireland: Civil registration began on 1 April 1845. The General Register Office of Ireland holds records. Many records are also available at irishgenealogy.ie free of charge.

What About Marriages Before 1837?

Before civil registration began, marriages in England and Wales were recorded in church registers held by individual parishes. These are not held by the GRO. Most parish records have been deposited with county record offices and many are now available online through the National Archives, Ancestry, FindMyPast, and free resources such as FreeREG.

Coverage varies enormously. Some registers date back to the sixteenth century; others have been lost or damaged. For the period 1754 to 1837, the Hardwicke Act required all marriages (except Quakers and Jews) to take place in an Anglican church, which significantly improved record-keeping consistency.

For more on finding historical marriage records — including free indexes and what each source contains — see our guide to how to find marriage records in the UK.

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Using Marriage Certificates to Research Family History

A certified copy of a marriage certificate is not just a replacement document — it is often a key that unlocks an entire branch of the family tree. The fathers' names establish the generation above. The occupation and address tell you where to look for census records. The witnesses are frequently siblings or close relatives, whose surnames may lead you to new lines.

If you are building out a family tree systematically, work backwards: collect the marriage certificate, then use the fathers' names to order the relevant birth certificates, and use those to find the previous generation's marriage. This chain approach is the most efficient way to go back through civil registration records.

Combine the GRO certificates with free online transcription databases — FreeBMD for births, deaths and marriages, and FindMyPast or Ancestry for wider family history searches — to verify details without paying for certificates at every step.

Marriage Certificates and Unclaimed Estates

There is one situation where a marriage certificate is not just useful for genealogy but potentially worth money: proving you are a qualifying relative of someone who died intestate and left an unclaimed estate.

When a person dies without a will and with no known relatives, their estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantiaand is listed on the Government's unclaimed estates register. Distant relatives — cousins, half-siblings, grandchildren of siblings — have up to 30 years to come forward and claim. A chain of marriage and birth certificates tracing your relationship to the deceased is the essential evidence required to support any claim.

Use the intestacy entitlement checker to see whether you might qualify, then search the unclaimed estates list on FindMyLegacy — free, with phonetic matching that catches spelling variations in surnames.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can anyone order a marriage certificate in the UK?

Yes. Marriage certificates in England and Wales are public documents. Anyone can order a copy from the GRO — you do not need to be related to either party, named on the certificate, or able to explain why you want it.

How long does it take to receive a marriage certificate?

Standard GRO online orders arrive in around four working days. If you choose priority delivery (£38.50), the certificate arrives the next working day when ordered before 4pm. Local register offices set their own timescales, which can be faster or slower depending on the office.

I do not know the exact date of the marriage — can I still order?

Yes. The GRO can conduct a search using a name and approximate year range. This attracts the additional £3.50 search fee. If the record cannot be found using the information you supply, a further administration fee may apply and the certificate is not issued until the entry is located.

Is a marriage certificate the same as a marriage licence?

No. A marriage licence is a document issued before the ceremony, allowing it to proceed without banns being called. A marriage certificate is the official record issued after the ceremony, confirming the marriage took place. The certificate is the document you need for legal and genealogical purposes.

How do I get a marriage certificate for a marriage abroad?

A marriage that took place outside the UK is not recorded by the GRO. You will need to contact the relevant authority in the country where the marriage occurred — or, if the marriage was registered with a British consulate, you can order a copy from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office. Consular marriages from 1849 onwards are held on record.

Can I use a marriage certificate as proof of name change?

Yes — a marriage certificate is widely accepted by banks, government departments, and employers as evidence of a name change following marriage. You will generally need the original or a certified copy, not a photocopy. If you need the certificate certified or apostilled for use abroad, a notary public or the FCDO Legalisation Office can assist.