The Legalities of Marrying in Scotland

HOW TO GET MARRIED IN
Scotland

This may seem like the boring section but it is important stuff! To be legally married in Scotland, you must fulfil the following criteria:

- You and your partner must both be single, divorced, widowed or have dissolved a previously legally recognised partnership.

- You must be over the age of sixteen.

- You must not be closely related to each other.

- You must be capable of understanding the commitment of marriage.

All Civil, Religious, Humanist and Same-Sex marriages conducted in Scotland by a person recognised as a legal officiant are legally recognised throughout the world, therefore making Scotland one of the most attractive locations for amazing destination and elopement weddings.

If you’re planning on eloping to Scotland for your wedding, with some planning and preparation it is feasible that you can arrange a legal destination or elopement marriage in Scotland within three months. Here’s what you’ll need to legally make it happen;

Three months before your wedding day (and no earlier) you can apply for a marriage visitors visa (If you live outwith the EU economic zone). Documents you will need to make this application include a passport, proof of identification, bank statements and pay cheques.

After applying for your visa you should get in touch with the registry office local to your chosen venue and submit a marriage notice form, also known as an M10 form. This includes visa confirmation, witness details and any information about past marriages and you must ensure you submit this no later than 29 days before your wedding.

The week of your Wedding, your marriage schedule will become available for you to collect – note it must be one of you who collects it. This must be returned to your local registry office either by your Registrar (in the case of a Civil ceremony) or by you no later than 7 days after your wedding (in the case of a Religious-Belief or Humanist ceremony).

The overall process takes around three months.

Thank you to Emma of Timeless White for her local knowledge.