Getting Married in Kent: The Legal Bit, Explained

Nobody gets engaged and thinks about statutory notice periods. But the legal side of getting married is the one part of the day with actual deadlines attached, and it is the part couples most often leave until it is awkwardly late. It is not complicated. It just has rules, and the rules are easier to follow if somebody sets them out in order.

Everything below was checked against Kent County Council's own guidance on 25 August 2026. Statutory fees and notice rules do change, so treat this as the shape of the process and confirm the current figures with the council before you rely on them.

The one ruleGiving notice, and the 28 days

How much notice do you have to give?

At least 28 clear days between giving notice and the ceremony, if you are both British or Irish citizens. If either of you is a foreign national, it is 70 days. This is a legal minimum and it is not negotiable, whatever the circumstances.

The detail people miss is when the clock starts. It starts once both notices have been given, not when you book the venue and not when you make the appointment. If one of you gives notice a fortnight after the other, the countdown begins on the later date.

How early can you give notice?

The ceremony has to take place within one year of the date of the first notice. So if your wedding is eighteen months away, you cannot give notice yet, and there is no advantage in trying. Most couples give notice somewhere between six and nine months out, which leaves plenty of margin without risking the twelve month limit.

If your wedding is close, do this first, before the dress and before the flowers. It is the only part of the process where being late is genuinely a problem.

Where do you give notice?

If you are both British or Irish citizens, at any register office in Kent. If either partner is a foreign national, it has to be one of six designated offices: Canterbury, Bexley, Dartford, Maidstone, Ramsgate or Tunbridge Wells.

You give notice where you live, not where you are getting married. Couples living in different districts give notice separately in their own, which is normal and is why the later of the two dates matters.

The appointmentWhat actually happens

Do you both have to go in person?

Yes. Both of you have to attend in person, and where either partner is a foreign national you must attend together rather than turning up separately. There is no way to do this by post or online, however much that feels like something that should have been solved by now.

Do you have to live in the district first?

Yes, and this catches people out. You must have lived in the registration district for the preceding eight nights immediately before giving notice. If you are not normally resident in England or Wales, you need to be here for seven clear days before the date of notice, not counting the day you arrive or the day of the appointment itself.

In practice this only trips up couples who have recently moved, or who are coming from abroad to marry here. If either applies to you, ring the register office before booking anything.

What does it cost?

When checked on 25 August 2026, the statutory fee was £46.50 per person for British and Irish citizens, and £63.00 per person where either partner is a foreign national. That is per person, not per couple, so the usual total is double.

This is separate from the registrar's fee for attending your ceremony, and separate again from anything the venue charges. Three different bills, and it is worth knowing that before the first one arrives.

What do you need to take?

Documents from the government's approved list, which the register office will confirm when you book the appointment. Broadly you should expect to need proof of identity, proof of address and, if either of you has been married before, evidence that the previous marriage has ended.

If either partner is a foreign national, there is more: a current passport-sized photograph, and potentially EU Settlement Scheme codes or a Home Office Certificate of Application. An interpreter must be arranged in advance if one is needed, and that is your responsibility rather than the office's.

Check the exact list with the register office rather than working from any article, this one included. Turning up without the right paperwork means rebooking, and rebooking eats into your 28 days.

On the dayWho does what

Who conducts the ceremony?

A registrar from the Kent Registrars, not the venue. At The BarnYard we book the registrar on your behalf when you book your date, so it is not a separate thing to chase, but their fee is charged directly to you. That surprises couples who assume an all-inclusive package covers everybody who speaks on the day.

What is a civil ceremony, exactly?

A legally binding marriage conducted by a registrar, with no religious content of any kind. Your vows, readings and music are otherwise entirely yours to choose, which is more freedom than most people expect. The restriction is only on religious material, and your registrar will tell you if a reading you have chosen crosses that line.

There is more detail about how it works here on our civil ceremonies page, including the five ceremony settings and which packages include what.

How long does it take?

Between 20 and 40 minutes for most couples, depending on how many readings and songs you build in. Your registrar goes through the timing at a pre-ceremony appointment, usually shortly before you walk in, and that appointment is also where the legal preliminaries are confirmed.

How many people can be there?

Our civil ceremony licence covers up to 200 guests. The Arboretum seats 200 for the wedding breakfast and takes up to 300 once evening guests arrive, so for most couples the ceremony number is the binding one rather than the room.

Church insteadIf you are not having a civil ceremony

What changes if you marry in church?

The legal route is different. A Church of England wedding is usually preceded by banns read in church rather than notice given at a register office, and the vicar handles the legal side. Other denominations and faiths vary, and some require a registrar to attend as well.

If you are marrying in church and holding the reception elsewhere, the venue does not need a ceremony licence at all, because the legal ceremony has already happened somewhere else. We have written about the choice between the two in civil ceremony versus church wedding.

Can you have a blessing at the venue after a legal ceremony elsewhere?

Yes, and plenty of couples do, particularly where family circumstances or a foreign wedding make the legal side simpler to handle separately. A blessing or celebrant-led ceremony carries no legal weight, which means none of the notice rules apply to it, but it also means the legal marriage has to happen somewhere.

In orderThe sequence that causes fewest problems

• Book the venue and the date. Everything else follows from this, and the registrar is booked against it.
• Check you are inside twelve months before booking a notice appointment. Any earlier and it will not stand.
• Book the notice appointment at your local register office, both of you, allowing well over 28 days.
• Confirm the document list with that office when you book, not the week before.
• Give notice. The 28 days starts from the later of your two appointments.
• Attend the pre-ceremony appointment on the day itself, shortly before you walk in.

None of it is difficult. It is simply the one part of a wedding where a deadline exists and nobody sends you a reminder. Deal with it early and it stops being a thing you think about at all.

The current fees, appointment booking and the definitive document list all sit with Kent County Council, and their guidance is the version that counts. If you want to talk through how the ceremony works here, that is on the civil ceremonies page, or the wider practicalities are set out on everything explained.