Notice of marriage date calculator
Enter your ceremony date to see the window for giving notice at the register office, and the date you need to be living in the district by.
Who this does not cover
- Church of England and Church in Wales weddings, which normally use banns read in church instead. See the Church of England’s guide or the Church in Wales legal requirements.
- Couples where either partner is from outside the UK or Ireland, where the Home Office may be told and the wait can be up to 70 days. See GOV.UK: if you’re from outside the UK or Ireland.
- Weddings abroad, which follow the other country’s law. See GOV.UK: getting married abroad.
Confirm your dates with your register office. This is a date calculator, not legal advice.
How it works
For England and Wales, the calculator uses three rules from GOV.UK’s page on giving notice, read on 11 November 2026:
- “You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony.”
- “You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of ‘giving notice’.”
- “You must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days.”
So the latest day to give notice is 29 days before the ceremony, and the earliest is the same date a year before. You need to be living in the district at least 7 days before you give notice, which the tool works out from the latest date. If that latest date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it also shows the Friday before as the last working day.
For Northern Ireland, nidirect says notice must be given “in the 12-month period before the date of the marriage”, and that “the minimum period is 28 days before the date of the proposed marriage”. It does not set a residence period, so none is shown.
Scotland is not calculated. National Records of Scotland gives the latest point, 29 days before, but no official page we found gives an earliest date, and a calculator that guessed one would be worse than none.
Assumptions
- England and Wales: latest notice 29 days before, earliest 12 months before, living in the district 7 days before notice.
- Northern Ireland: latest notice 28 days before, earliest 12 months before.
- “12 months before” is the same day of the month a year earlier; 29 February counts back to 28 February.
- Bank holidays are not counted.
Questions
- What does giving notice mean?
- GOV.UK describes it as signing a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to marry or form a civil partnership.
- How early can we give notice?
- In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, up to 12 months before the ceremony. Once the latest date has passed you cannot give notice in time for that day, so there is nothing to gain by waiting for it.
- What if the last day is a bank holiday?
- The tool does not know about bank holidays. Check the date against the GOV.UK bank holiday list and plan to go a working day earlier.
- Why is Scotland not calculated?
- The official guidance says the registrar must have your notices at least 29 days before the wedding and suggests sending them 10 to 12 weeks ahead, but gives no earliest date.
Sources
Bridal Tools, bridaltools.com/tools/notice-of-marriage-calculator/