Getting Married in Ireland

Your Essential Guide to Getting Legally Married in Ireland

To be legally married in Ireland, here are the four most important things you must to do first, to ensure your wedding ceremony is a legally recognised marriage.  Not necessarily in this order:

 1.  Choose A HSE Registered & Authorised Celebrant

Celebrants in Ireland are not all the same.   There are many Celebrants who are not HSE Authorised or Registered to offiiciate a Legal Marriage.   An unregistered Celebrant is perfectly OK if you are getting legally married abroad and don’t want your Irish wedding to be a Legal Marriage.

For a real legal marriage in Ireland you must choose a Celebrant (like myself) who is duly authorised by Law, to Solemnise Marriage in Ireland according to the Law.   The legally recognised name for an Authorised Celebrant is “Registered Solemniser” or “Registered Solemniser of Marriages” this is your guarantee that your Celebrant is Authorised and HSE registered and duly authorised to officiate legal marriages. 

Please be careful – there are many unregistered Celebrants in Ireland who are using trickery to deceive the public.  This includes claiming to be “ethical” along with their use of the job title “Registered Celebrant” as part of their trickery, along with incorrect advice designed to turn you away from choosing a HSE Registered Solemniser like myself, such as telling you that if you choose a Registered Solemniser like myself, that your ceremony will be Religious.  

This just isn’t true at all and it’s dreadful that some unregistered Celebrants are resorting to such deceitful trickery by turning couples against having their wedding ceremony as a real Legal marriage. 

I am registered as a Religious Solemniser because the two options for my Solemniser Registration are Secular or Religious, but I am actually a combination of the two.   My registration as a Religious but non-denominational Holistic Minister, gives me the most flexibility to work with couples of all beliefs (or none) without discrimination.  This means I am free to design and create a ceremony to your own beliefs and wishes with the freedom to include your choice of Spiritual or Religious elements if you wish. (or not).

Unregistered Celebrants don’t have a working knowledge of the Marriage Act because they aren’t HSE Registered to officiate Legal marriages.  This means they are not qualified to give accurate advice in this area.

Only HSE Registered & Authorised Celebrants like myself, are duly authorised to use the job title of “Registered Solemniser”.  This is the only job title recognised by the HSE Civil Registration Office and the Marriage Act.

As a Registered Solemniser of Marriages, with me as your Celebrant your unique & special, fully personalised non-religious wedding ceremony will be a real legal marriage on the day, if that’s what you want – because if a legal marriage is what you want, that’s what you deserve.

I don’t charge you any extra for a Legal Marriage either. as the Marriage Act forbids this.  With me as your HSE Authorised Celebrant & Registered Solemniser, a Legal marriage ceremony is the same price as a Non-Legal Ceremony.

2. Choose Your Wedding Venue

You really are spoiled here in Ireland with so many beautiful wedding venues to choose from.  You can choose from the many castles, mansion houses and luxury hotels, or arts centres, so many beautiful wedding venues throughout the country.

Important Advice – in Ireland a wedding venue doesn’t need to be “approved”, “registered” or “authorised” for legal marriages.   There is a great deal of confusion about this online published by those who don’t correctly understand the Marriage Act.  

A wedding venue must comply with the Marriage Act, which means it must be generally open to the public,, This means it cannot generally be a private home unless an area of the private home or its grounds is generally open to the public.   A wedding venue in Ireland must also have a building with a postal address, which means it can’t be a public beach or forest.

The only formal authorisation and approval a wedding venue must have, is when a HSE Registrar conducts a Registry Office Marriage there.   With me as your Celebrant, your wedding venue doesn’t need to be inspected or authorised.  With my experience I can confirm if your wedding venue complies with the requirements of the Marriage Act.

3. Choose Your Legal Witnesses

You must choose two legal witnesses, who must both be over the age of 18.  Each of your witnesses will required to show me their government-issued photo ID on the day, before signing as a witness to your Marriage.

4. Make your “Notification Appointment” with any HSE Civil Registration Office

Once you have chosen your Celebrant (Pick me!) and your wedding venue, the next thing you must do to get married in Ireland, is lodge your “Notification of Intention to Marry” or NOIM with a HSE Civil Registration Office.   This must be done at least 3 months before your wedding date, and up to 12 months before.   Contact your nearest HSE office for advice and to book your in-person appointment.

Note: If you live outside of Ireland you can lodge your NOIM by email.  (Don’t ever post original copies of important documents as they can be lost in the post)   Contact the HSE office closest to where you will be staying in Ireland and they will email you the forms and information you. need.

You should be well on your way to booking your wedding suppliers who will help make your day special.

Your Big Day!

.TA-DA !!  Your big day is here!  You are getting married!  Remember to bring your green folder and MRF to be signed during your ceremony.  Congratulations!

On the next business day (or as soon as possible within 30 days) return your completed MRF to the HSE Civil Registration Office to complete the legal marriage registration process.