by Sergiy Burnus 

The majority of couples have never even heard of one day marriage and are going to have a well planned and thoroughly organised wedding with a formal marriage registration ceremony and proper celebrations afterwards. These preparations may take several months or sometimes even years to make the plan of a dream wedding come true. However, sometimes the circumstances are different. It can be a spontaneous proposal and desire of the couple to escape from the world, or it can be a just a legal formality to register the marriage under certain circumstances and time constraints. 

While the majority of countries have a long marriage application process, some do offer urgent one day marriage registration services. It does not mean that your marriage registration will lose any importance or charm; it only means it can be reserved and held quicker in the official bodies of other countries. 

Which country is the easiest to get married?

Countries allowing urgent one day marriage registration in Europe 

• Gibraltar 
• Ukraine
• Denmark 
• Malta 

Marriage registration in Gibraltar 

In Gibraltar, the marriage between two persons is registered under the Gibraltar Marriage Act. Under its provisions, it is possible, by means of a Special Licence granted under Section 13 of the Act, for residents and non-residents alike to get married in Gibraltar. It also enables a Marriage ceremony to be conducted at approved locations outside the Registry and outside working hours and at weekends.

The marriage registration application can be conveniently submitted by email, and the ceremony is held in English. Full details on the requirements and fees can be found on the website of the Registry of Marriages and Civil Partnerships. 

Non-residents wishing to get married in Gibraltar must provide the Registrar with documentary evidence that they will be staying in Gibraltar for at least one night immediately prior to or, immediately after the ceremony. 

The Registrar will accept any of the residence evidence listed below:

• A Gibraltar hotel bill covering the night before or the night after the ceremony;  
• A Gibraltar hotel booking form confirming that the night of the ceremony is paid for;  
• A statement by a resident of Gibraltar confirming that the parties spent the night before the ceremony, or will spend the night of the ceremony, as their guest at the relevant address (which must be specified); or  
• Another form of proof that the parties were or will be in Gibraltar on the night before or the night of the ceremony, to the satisfaction of the Registrar.

If you wish to get married in any of the approved venues, please note that it is your sole responsibility to contact the organisers directly and pay any fees that this may incur.

You will both have to attend our offices no later than 10.30 am on any working day prior to the date of the ceremony to complete the paperwork and apply for a Special Licence. This may be done as early as a maximum of 3 months in advance, or as late as the day before the date of the ceremony.

Ceremonies held at an outside location may be conducted on weekdays between 01:00 pm and 07:00 pm and weekends between 10:00 am and 07:00 pm. 

These may only take place at one of the venues approved by the Registrar. The approved venues are listed at Appendix ‘B’. No ceremonies will take place at an outside location during the pre-Christmas week. Ceremonies will resume on the first working day of the New Year. Please be aware that public holidays in Gibraltar may differ from those in your country of residence. Information on public holidays in Gibraltar may be obtained at www.gibraltar.gov. 

Ceremonies held outside the Registry Office must comply with all the conditions imposed by the Registrar. For example, receptions held at the same venue must be celebrated in a separate area from where the ceremony takes place. If you wish to have the ceremony at an outside location, it is your sole responsibility to contact the organisers directly, to make the necessary arrangements and to pay for any fees for the use of the venue.  

Ukraine: Urgent Marriage Registration
(within 24 hours)

This is a comparatively new service introduced by the Ukrainian authorities just a couple of years ago. It is available for the non-residents and bookings can be done remotely. 

Full details of the registration procedure, documentation requirements and fees are available on the websites of the public services providers in Ukraine: State Enterprise “Document” and Document Service “Gotovo”. 

Notably, the urgent marriage registration service is only available in major cities of Ukraine.

The required documents are:

• Foreign passport and a certified copy of the passport with a certified translation of the passport into Ukrainian;
• If a person has already been married, a certified copy of the document confirming the dissolution of the previous marriage which is legalised (apostilled) appropriately. Certificated translation of all pages into Ukrainian should be provided additionally;
• Non-residents must be staying in Ukraine legally (either with the residence permit, visa or valid passport in case of a visa-free entry).