Information For International Couples About Getting Married in Ireland

We’re no experts when it comes to arranging marriages in Ireland, but we’ve photographed hundreds of weddings in Ireland and picked up some useful information along the way. We’ll assume you meet the legal requirements to get married: you’re over 18; you both actually really want to marry each other, even after careful consideration, and have agreed fully about the best way to load up the dishwasher (which was famously conceived by a divorce lawyer as an instrument designed to increase business); you’re both alive, and single. Got all those bits in place? Good, let’s crack on.

Three Month’s Notice.
Yeah, it’s a proper legal thing you must do. You have to notify the Civil Registration Service in Ireland of your intention to marry at least three months in advance. Best to contact them and book an appointment early as possible in the process, it can take time and notification has to be in person. If you live outside Ireland there’s an option, as far as I know, to give notice by post, but you would still have to meet with a registrar a minimum of five days before the ceremony in order to sign a declaration and receive the necessary Marriage Registration Form - the famous green book.
Make sure you have all the necessary bits you’ll need: Photo ID; Birth Cert; Proof of Address; Proof of Civil Status if divorced or widowed. Check with the Registrar what you’ll need as there may be more documentation required depending on where in the world you live. Once that’s all done and dusted the Registrar will issue you with your ‘keep-in-a-safe-place-and-do-not-lose’ Green Book - the Marriage Registration Form.
There’s a €200 fee required when giving notice, and the marriage cert costs €20 or so.
Also, do bear in mind that you may need a visa to enter Ireland if you’re from outside Europe so don’t forget to check if one is necessary.

Organising A Solemniser
I’ve always called them ‘celebrants’ or ‘wedding celebrants’, but that’s incorrect as only a registered solemniser can marry you for it to be legal. Civil registrars can do this at the Registry Office, amongst other places, or you can have a religious, spiritual, or secular, humanist solemniser. They all tend to book up quickly, so get your skates on and organise one as soon as possible. Aside from a couple of older priests who are a bit of a stick in the mud, the vast majority of them are lovely and easy going when it comes to performing weddings. The Civil Registrars are all lovely, they really seem to enjoy their job and do it with good grace and humour. If you’re a bit more spiritually-minded there’s plenty of options that can be tailored to your beliefs. And, if you’re not spiritually inclined at all at all, then there are Humanist solemnisers that would be happy to work with you.

Choosing Your Wedding Venue
Aside from churches there’s almost every kind of wedding venue you can imagine available, just check that it’s approved with the Civil Registration Service. We’ve photographed weddings in Irish Castles, hotels, restaurants, theatres, marquees, on hillsides, clifftop walks, and beside lakes. A good celebrant will help you organise all the necessary documentation and should know what’s required to hold a ceremony wherever you choose to have it.

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer In Ireland
Obviously, that should be us…right? Right.
We limit ourselves to shooting about 25 weddings a year in Dublin and the surrounding counties - the rest of the time is devoted to commercial food and product photography. We’ve photographed everything from two people eloping - just the couple, us two idiots, and the celebrant - to weddings with hundreds of guests where the couple are each from different countries and they’re all an absolute blast.

What Else Do You Need?
With the paperwork, solemniser, venue, and photographer sorted, you can think about the other big ticket items on the list: A Budget (make a plan and stick to the budget); dresses and/or suits - dresses can take time to make, so book early if you’re going bespoke; hair and make up artists can be in big demand; the best bands can be booked two years in advance, so go see a few well in advance; videographers can also be in high demand, so get one early; a good florists will be well able to help you coordinate colours and advise on the best scheme for your venue; wedding cake … I’ve no idea, I don’t like cake!

There are plenty of websites out there with plenty of lists about what to do and what not to do and when to do or not do the thing, and it can all seem a bit overwhelming when it really shouldn’t be. We’ve done over 300 weddings at this stage and I can’t remember one where things so wrong a day was ruined - sometimes little things will happen not quite as expected, but the funny thing is that those are the very things that make people laugh afterwards. Everyone you deal with is probably doing this for a living and they all want your day to go without a hiccup, so you will find that people will always be there to help out when needed. Especially wedding photographers as they’re usualy with you from the morning until the evening.