Marriage and civil partnership celebrants

Home
Registration
Marriage and civil partnership celebrants

Share this page

Click here to share this page on Facebook. Click here to share this page on LinkedIn. Click here to share this page on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Marriages and civil partnerships in Scotland are carried out by a celebrant. This is someone who is authorised to solemnise:

a marriage ceremony
a civil partnership registration.

Couples in Scotland can choose to have either a:

civil, religious or belief marriage
civil partnership ceremony

If you wish to have a civil ceremony you must engage the services of the registrar in the local authority area where you intend to marry.

If you wish to have a religious or belief ceremony you may have a friend or family member solemnise your marriage providing they:

are a representative of a religious or belief body
have authorisation in advance from National Records of Scotland (NRS) to do so

If you are unsure if your celebrant is authorised to conduct a legal ceremony, contact the registration office in the district where your ceremony is to take place before engaging with the celebrant.

Find a registrar

You can find which local council area you live in by clicking here

Civil celebrants

Under Scots law the only people who can conduct civil marriage ceremonies are:

registrars
assistant registrars who have been authorised by the Registrar General

Independent or private civil celebrants cannot be authorised to solemnise a civil marriage or civil partnership ceremony.

Religious or belief celebrants

Religious or belief ceremonies can be solemnised by an approved celebrant who has been authorised under the terms of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. Authorisation under the Act applies to celebrants for marriage ceremonies.

Examples

Religious bodies include, but are not limited to, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities and organisations.

Belief bodies include, but are not limited to, humanist, pagan, spiritualist and interfaith communities and organisations.

Authorisation of religious or belief celebrants who are not approved by a legally prescribed body are processed by the NRS Combined Registration Services team. We do this in line with our official policy for:

Authorisation to solemnise a marriage ceremony or register a civil partnership

Any celebrant seeking authorisation, including family members or friends of the couple, should contact us for guidance on the documentation they will be required to submit.

When making an enquiry, include the:

celebrants full name
name of the religious or belief body they will be solemnising a marriage or registering a civil partnership on behalf of
date and place of the intended marriage or civil partnership

Private and independent celebrants

A ‘private’ or 'independent' celebrant is someone that is not permitted to conduct a marriage or civil partnership in line with Scottish legislation.

An unauthorised celebrant may market themselves as an independent or private civil celebrant. They may provide non-legal ceremonies in Scotland such as funerals, baby naming, vow renewals or wedding/civil partnership blessings.

Marriage or civil partnership 'blessings'

A marriage or civil partnership ‘blessing’ is a ceremony that is not legally binding in Scotland and will not be registered with NRS.

An unauthorised celebrant may advise couples that:

they can conduct a blessing
a registrar can complete the ‘legal duties’ of the ceremony to make their marriage or civil partnership legal

You should be aware that a registrar cannot conduct parts of a marriage or civil partnership for:

any other body
an unauthorised celebrant

If you choose to use the services of a registrar, it is the registrar that will legally conduct the ceremony and marry or civilly partner the couple.

The marriage or civil partnership certificate will reflect that the ceremony was: conducted:

by the registrar
at the registrar’s location

A ‘blessing ceremony’ may occur before or after the ceremony conduct by the registrar, but it is:

not legally recognised
not connected to the ceremony conducted by the registrar

Contact the registration office in the district where you wish your ceremony to take place if you have any questions about:

an unauthorised celebrant
a legally recognised ceremony in Scotland

Find a registrar

You can find which local council area you live in by clicking here