Discuss with us your requirements. We will tell you if we are available on your proposed date and you can decide with us if we are appropriate to perform your ceremony. We will also advise you of the likely costs of our services and our terms.

Contact the Registrar in the district which you want to get married in. For Orkney this is Patricia Breck in Kirkwall.  This government website provides plenty of information about the legalities:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/regscot/getting-married-in-scotland/i-want-to-get-married-in-scotland-how-do-i-go-about-it.html

Each person getting married should complete a form M10. These can be submitted up to three months before the proposed date. It is best if this is done as soon as possible, especially if either party has been married before. They should certainly be submitted no less than 2 weeks before, or 6 weeks if either party has been married before. If you cannot give this much notice, there are some special circumstances in which Marriage Schedules can be issued quicker – you would need to seek advice on this from the Registrar. The Registrar will carry out checks to confirm there are no legal impediments to the marriage.

We will need to provide you with the Celebrant’s details to be entered on the form. You will need to provide details of your proposed venue, this can be an exact name or an OS map reference, the Registrar will advise. This stage can all be done by telephone, email and post. You do not need to visit the Registrar in person, and unlike England and Wales, you do not have to be resident in the parish in which you wish to get married. We recommend that any certificates etc are send by registered post. There is a fee at this stage, payable to the Registrar.

Ensure that the venue you want is available on the date you require and that you are allowed to get married there. We can assist with this in Orkney and have the local contacts to facilitate. If you want to get married at a Historic Scotland site the contact is Shuna Readman at hs.weddings@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.  To the left are links to Historic Scotland's terms and conditions as well as a copy of their booking form. Please note that at unstaffed sites (such as Brodgar) Historic Scotland can give no guarantees that yours will be the only wedding party.

The Registrar will prepare a Marriage Schedule no earlier than 7 days before the marriage. This provides you with permission to get married on a specific date, at a specific place, with the named Celebrant. One of the couple getting married – preferably both – should collect the Marriage Schedule IN PERSON from the Registrar. This should be at least the day before the wedding. You must check with the Registrar that the details on the Marriage Schedule are correct.

The Marriage Schedule should be given to the Celebrant to check the details are correct prior to the ceremony – this should also be at least the day before. For a marriage to be legal, both parties to the marriage (the couple) must be present during the marriage ceremony. The Celebrant must be present, and there must be two witnesses to the marriage who must be over 16 years of age. An interpreter may be present (seek permission from the Registrar) but the couple, the witnesses, and the Celebrant must be able to understand the wording of the legal parts of the ceremony.

Immediately after the solemnisation of the marriage, the Marriage Schedule must be signed by the couple, by both witnesses, and by the Celebrant. The Marriage Schedule must be returned within 3 days to the issuing Registrar to enable the marriage to be registered. It is best if this is done in person. At this stage a marriage certificate is issued by the Registrar. This does not have to be done by the couple but it is their responsibility – traditionally the “Best Man” does this!

Congratulations!