Capture of Data Form for in-person marriage notification appointments you can download and print this from the HSE website link below and be prepared ahead of time, ask your Earth Spiritualist Foundation Holistic Celebrant or Minister how to complete this form who can give you some expert tips for helping the process go smoothly:
If you are lodging your marriage notification by postal or email notification you should avoid using this form – instead the HSE Registrar will provide you with their Postal Notification form.
How to Get Legally Married in Ireland with the Best Ceremony Possible !
The best ceremony possible is one designed and created to suit your wishes and beliefs without any wording or ideas included that you didn’t previously approve of. Our experienced team of caring Officiants create one of a kind ceremonies for couples from all walks of life, and will work with you to craft a ceremony to fulfil your dreams and beliefs every step of the way.
What could be better than that?
How to Get Legally Married in Ireland
A legal wedding ceremony is a real wedding with a Registered Solemniser of Marriages as your Celebrant. A non-legal wedding ceremony is a symbolic, simulated wedding ceremony without the legal parts or registration to make it a legal marriage. There may be a very good reason for this if you live overseas and prefer to be legally married in your country of residence for the convenience that may offer.
A Legal Marriage in Ireland can only ever be conducted by an Officiant who is Government-registered to Solemnise marriage and is therefore duly authorised by the State. Do not choose two Celebrants for two separate ceremonies, if you’d like a Celebrant to conduct a legal marriage in Ireland you only need one Celebrant and one ceremony if you choose from our caring and experienced team.
All of our non-denominational Holistic Celebrants and Ministers here at Enchanted Ceremonies are HSE registered and duly authorised to solemnise legal marriage if that’s what you want. Non-legal ceremonies are also an option for couples who choose to be legally married elsewhere for the sake of convenience.
What is the Legal Process Required in Ireland?
The following steps outline the basics:
- Choose your Enchanted Ceremonies Holistic Celebrant or Minister from our team of experienced and caring Officiants. With your Celebrant from the Enchanted Ceremonies team, your ceremony can be any style you wish, including Humanist non-Relgiious style, spiritual style, or if a “Religious but not Religious” ceremony is more your style, or your Pastor from another faith to bless you and say a few words, anything is possible with an Enchanted Ceremonies Officiant to guide you every step of the way. Your unique ceremony will be customised to your beliefs and wishes perfectly.
- Book your Notification Appointment – this can be any HSE Office in the country. Ask your Enchanted Ceremonies Holistic Celebrant or Minister for some great tips to help the process run smoothly. Give yourself enough time to choose your wedding venue and witnesses to your marriage as you will need to provide this information at your notification appointment.
- Attend your Notification Appointment. You should print and take with you the Capture of Data Form. You will find the link to this form at the left side of this page. At this meeting if you have provided all information needed, you will be provided with your Green Folder containing your marriage license (modern name is Marriage Registration Form or MRF) to be signed during your legal marriage.
- Bring your Green folder and marriage license with you to your marriage ceremony and return it to the HSE office on next business day. If this isn’t possible arrange for a responsible family member to do this for you as your marriage wont’ be legal unless this signed form is returned to the Civil Registration Office without delay.
Note: Once you have chosen your Enchanted Ceremonies Offciant/Celebrant, you must book your “Notification of Intention to Marry” with the HSE Civil Registration Office (step 2) at least 3 months before your wedding date and no more than 12 months before. Your Enchanted Ceremonies Officiant has years of experience in this process and can give you all the expert advice you need.
What Type of Officiant Should We Have?
There are 3 choices of HSE Registered Celebrants for a legal marriage ceremony here in Ireland. There are thousands of Registered Marriage Celebrants who are authorised to Solemnise marriage in Ireland, there is definitely no shortage and no need to choose an unregistered Celebrant if you want your wedding to be a real legal marriage on the day.
Beware of False “Registered Celebrants”
There are a growing number of unregistered Celebrants in Ireland misleading the public by advertising themselves as “Registered Celebrants” when they are not actually registered with the HSE, instead they are “registered” with the commercial training college who trained them how to be so misleading to the public.
Would you trust anyone who lies to you? Don’t trust any Celebrant who advertises themselves as a “registered Celebrant” who isn’t legally regstered with the HSE and duly authorised to solemnise legal marriage.
Choose your Ceremony Style
If you wish to be legally married in Ireland you must first decide what type of ceremony you’d like, then choose the right Officiant/Celebrant you want, based on your own beliefs and wishes.
The 3 types of Officiants/Celebrants in Ireland who are registered to Solemnise a Legal Marriage are:
Church Ceremony
- By a Priest or Clergy at their own Church. This is your best option if you’d like a Religious church ceremony.
Non-Church Ceremony
There are 2 types of non-church legal marriage ceremonies possible in Ireland:
- A government Registry Office marriage ceremony by a HSE Civil Registrar either at the Registry Office or at your wedding venue for an extra fee. This is known as a “Civil Ceremony”.
- A Holistic Celebrant or Minister from Enchanted Ceremonies team to conduct any style of non-Denominational ceremony according to your wishes. This is the type of celebrant which is fast becoming most popular in Ireland as we give you the most flexibility with your ceremony options, creating a unique ceremony to suit your very own beliefs and wishes. Your ceremony can be conducted in a venue of your choice.
Category 2 is the best choice for modern couples wishing to have a unique personalised ceremony created and conducted to their own wishes and beliefs, where your ceremony is all about you, and without any mention of the beliefs of an organisation.
With an Enchanted Ceremonies non-denominational Holistic Celebrant or Minister to officiate your marriage, you will always book directly with your Celebrant by contacting them directly, which always gives you the most flexibility with your ceremony design.
You will find all the contact details for our expert Celebrants & Ministers on Our Team page.
What is a Civil Ceremony?
A Civil Ceremony here in Ireland is another name for a gopvernment style Registry Office marriage. This is because the name for the Registry Office is the Civil Registration Office, and the full job title of the HSE staff member who conducts a Registry Office marriage, is “HSE Civil Registrar” so its only natural that they are the ones who create Civil Ceremonies in Ireland.
There are so many unregistered Celebrants in Ireland who are deceiving the public in order to get bookings, calling themselves Civil Celebrants and claiming to conduct Civil Ceremonies, when actually they aren’t, and they don’t. The only person legally permitted to conduct a Civil Marriage Ceremony in Ireland is a HSE Civil Registrar.
There is a lot of confusion about this terminology due to the Civil Ceremonies in Australia which are not the same as the Registry Office Civil Ceremonies here in Ireland. The closest thing to the Australian Civil Ceremony is a non-denominational ceremony designed to suit your own unique wishes an beliefs, by one of our cEnchanted Ceremonies team of experienced and caring Holistic Celebrants and Ministers.
You have found the right place! Our Celebrants and Ministers here at Enchanted Ceremonies are non-denominational, which means we are a modern organisation not ruled by the demands of any Religion. Your non-Religious Enchanted Ceremony will be created to suit your wishes and beliefs all the way!
Who Can Marry You in Ireland ?
Here in Ireland the Marriage Act requires that for a marriage to be considered a legal marriage, the ceremony must be Solemnised (Officiated & Witnessed) by an authorised individual known as a Registered Solemniser of Marriages.
Solemnisers are Registered by the government, at the request of the registered organisations which they belong to. Typically in days of old, these organisations have been Churches, and up until not too long ago when members of the Humanist Association of Ireland became Registered to conduct Secular marriages, couples had two choices for marriage, a Church or the Registry Office.
The great thing for modern couples getting married in Ireland is there is now a mix of Secular, Interfaith and Mixed Faith organisations and Solemnisers which gives couples a great choice of the type of marriage ceremony they can have.
Only a Celebrant who is duly authorised by the HSE and listed on the government “Register of Solemnisers” can conduct a legal marriage ceremony in Ireland.
All of our Celebrants &. Ministers are Registered Solemnisers and duly authorised to conduct legal marriage in the Republic of Ireland and many are also Registered to conduct legal marriages in Northern Ireland.
According to the Marriage Act of Ireland, there are 3 types of Marriages:
- Civil
- Religious – a Church or other organisation with Spirtual beliefs, including a belief in a Supreme being, or Highest God.
- Secular – a non-Church organisation without a belief in a Supreme being.
Enchanted Ceremonies Celebrants & Solemnisers conduct non-Religious ceremonies but have the freedom to include the couples beliefs what ever that may be. This means you can also have a Humanist style ceremony without any spirituality. Or a Spiritual Ceremony incorporating elements from any faith, or you can have a Spiritual Ceremony with a Religious feel and mention God, Holy Spirit, The Divine in your ceremony as you wish.
Our ceremonies are conducted in the Earth Spiritualist tradition which means there are no restrictions on the wording or style of your ceremony, your ceremony is not bound by the rules of any Religion. Which means your ceremony is always created to suit your own wishes and style, whatever that may be.
Where Can You Be Married in Ireland ?
You can be married on land at any place which is generally open to the public “without hindrance” and has an identifiable address, which means it must have a habitable building which is also open to the public and a postal address.
The building must also have a separate room, where the ceremony can be conducted away from the public in a dignified manner, except in the case where the venue is hired out for the purpose of the wedding without any public access for the duration.
Which means there are certain places which are not permitted, for example you are not permitted to be legally married on a private property, on the water while on a boat, or in the water or underwater, while in the sky either in an aircraft including a hot air balloon, or while parachuting, you must be on dry land.
Does a Wedding Venue Need to be HSE Approved?
There is a great deal of confusion regarding the HSE approval process for a wedding venue, including wedding venues misleading the public by advertising as “HSE Approved” which is incorrect.
For Religious/Secular marriages such as those conducted by our Celebrants & Ministers, it is not necessary for a wedding venue to have HSE approval. It is the responsiblity of the Marriage Solemniser to determine if the venue meets the requirements of the Marriage Act so that the marriage will be a valid marriage.
The HSE marriage venue approval process exists purely for the requirements of a Civil Ceremony, ie. where the marriage ceremony will be conducted by a Civil Registrar employed by the HSE, who must inspect the venue prior to each marriage ceremony conducted.
The purpose of inspection is firstly to ensure that the venue satisfies the requirements of the Marriage Act (for that ceremony only), and also that the venue satisfies the requirements for workplace safety and public amenity. This inspection is carried out for each marriage ceremony requested, and does not give any official “HSE approval” status to a wedding venue.
