Foreign Marriage (Amendment) Act 1988

4 Form of ceremony

In section 8 of the 1892 Act for subsections (2) and (3) (solemnisation of marriage in presence of marriage officer etc.) there shall be substituted the following—

“(2) Every such marriage shall be solemnised—

(a) at the official house of the marriage officer, with open doors, between 8 am and 6 pm, in the presence of two or more witnesses;

(b) by the marriage officer or, if the parties so desire, by another person in his presence; and

(c) according to such form and ceremony as the parties see fit to adopt.

(3) Where (apart from this subsection) it would not be stated or otherwise indicated in the course of the ceremony adopted by the parties that neither of them knows of any lawful impediment to their marriage, then, in some part of the ceremony and in the presence of the marriage officer and witnesses, they shall each declare—

• ‘I solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I A.B. [or C.D.] may not be joined in matrimony to C.D. [or A.B.].’

(4) Where (apart from this subsection) it would not be stated by each of the parties in the course of the ceremony adopted by them that he or she takes the other as wife or husband, then, in some part of the ceremony and in the presence of the marriage officer and witnesses, each of the parties shall say to the other—

• ‘I call upon these persons here present to witness that I A.B. [or C.D.] take thee C.D. [or A.B.] to be my lawful wedded wife [or husband]’.”