Organise a marriage

There are two options available to convert your civil partnership to a marriage. The marriage will be treated as if it had existed from the day the civil partnership was formed so you will not lose any of the rights or entitlements you have accrued from being in a civil partnership.

Option 1 - ceremony at the Register Office

• You will need to make an appointment at the Register Office to see the Superintendent Registrar
• You will need to provide evidence of name, date of birth, address and your civil partnership certificate
• A declaration is completed to confirm that you have not dissolved your civil partnership and that you both wish to convert your civil partnership to a marriage. The declaration is signed in the Register Office at the same time
• The conversion takes place when you sign the declaration and will be registered
• You will receive a certificate of conversion
• Should you wish to, you will have a marriage ceremony as part of this process at the Register Office

Each marriage certificate costs £11.

If you registered your civil partnership after 29 March 2014 the fee for the conversion process is £45. This is a statutory fee and is reviewed annually by central government.

Option 2 - ceremony at another venue

Part 1

• You will need to attend the Register Office in person for an appointment with the Superintendent Registrar to complete a declaration with details about yourselves and your civil partnership
• You will need to provide evidence of name, date, address and your civil partnership certificate
• The fee payable at this stage is £27 per couple

Part 2

• The signing of the declaration, which you can follow with a ceremony, can take place at the same range of venues as a marriage of same sex couples (for example at approved premises or religious building registered for the marriage of same sex couples)
• We will post the marriage certificate to you on the next working day after the ceremony

View the ceremony fees

You may also have to pay central government fees for a conversion of a civil partnership.

If your ceremony is at an approved premise venue, you will need to pay a non-refundable and non-transferable booking fee at the time of booking your ceremony.

This won't be a legal ceremony but a celebration of your marriage and we can include vows, exchange of rings and enhancements such as music or readings.