Weddings 10/08/2005

A wedding, to many people, conveys more than a ceremony in a registry office. You may want to hire a particular venue, or have a religious service, or have all your friends to dinner: however you want to mark out your day and make it special.

You cannot have a religious service as part of your civil partnership ceremony, nor can you register a civil partnership in any venue that's used solely or mainly for religious purposes. These are the same rules as for civil marriage. You can have a religious celebration of your partnership on the same day as your registration ceremony, but it has to be in a different venue or at a different time from your civil partnership ceremony. Some LGBT religious groups have a tradition of celebrating same-sex committment ceremonies, but the links provided represent only a sampling of what's available.

All the places that have been approved for civil marriage are listed on the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) website, by local council and by place name. Any venue approved for civil marriage can also be used for civil partnership: however, private venues may be restricted by the owner to permit civil marriages only. You need to confirm that the venue you want is available for civil partnership.

You can register your civil partnership at a place that's outside the district of the registrar who is performing your civil partnership, providing you get the approval of the Registrar General to do so. You can also ask the registrar to perform the civil partnership ceremony in a place that is not on a pre-approved list of venues: the registrar has the right to decide whether or not the premises are suitable.

For your convenience, we have provided some links to private companies that offer advice or other services for same-sex weddings. We have no relationship with these companies, commercial or otherwise; we make no guarantee that the goods and services they supply are as advertised; and we accept no liability if they are not.