Wedding questions · 15 answers · updated 30 October 2026
Court marriage, registration fees by state, certificates and what is valid.
Give written notice to the Marriage Officer (the SDM or Sub-Registrar) of the district where either of you has lived for 30 days. The notice is displayed for 30 days for objections. Then both of you and three witnesses sign the declaration, say the statutory words, and the certificate is entered the same day. No priest, no religion test, no parental consent.
The official fees are tiny. Delhi charges ₹15 to solemnise a Special Marriage Act marriage and ₹100–200 to register a religious wedding; Maharashtra ₹100 plus ₹150; Karnataka ₹13; Uttar Pradesh ₹10. Delhi's tatkal registration adds ₹10,000 for a certificate in 24 hours. Anything above that is a lawyer or agent fee, typically ₹2,500–25,000 for the same paperwork.
Yes. A marriage under the Special Marriage Act 1954 is valid across India for any two adults, whatever their religion or caste, and the certificate is conclusive evidence under section 13. Registering a religious wedding is also legal proof, but the Supreme Court held in 2024 that registration alone cannot create a Hindu marriage that was never actually solemnised.
Almost everywhere the application, documents, fee and appointment are online, through Delhi's e-District, Haryana's Saral, Uttar Pradesh's stamp-department portal, Tamil Nadu's registration site or Karnataka's Kaveri, but the couple and two or three witnesses still appear once before the registrar. Karnataka's Hindu-marriage filing is the exception with no visit at all.
The government fee is small: Delhi charges about ₹100 under the Hindu Marriage Act and ₹150 under the Special Marriage Act, with ₹10,000 extra for a tatkal certificate in 24 hours; Haryana and Tamil Nadu ₹100–200 depending on how late you file; Maharashtra about ₹50 plus a late penalty; Uttar Pradesh ₹10–50. Agents' ₹10,000–25,000 packages are their fee, not the state's.
From the portal that issued it: Delhi's e-District, Haryana's Saral, Karnataka's Kaveri and Goa's civil registration site all give a PDF against the application number, and Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and the Mumbai and Pune corporations also push it to DigiLocker. For older paper certificates, apply to the same sub-registrar for a certified copy.
Not as a rule. The Special Marriage Act lets the marriage officer solemnise at another place within reasonable distance for an extra fee, and Maharashtra lists ₹1,000 for it, but the 30-day notice cannot be waived and witnesses must be physically present. Courts have allowed a party to join by video in some cases; the certificate is still signed at the office.
The marriage is still valid if the ceremony was properly performed, but you cannot prove it easily. Passports, spouse visas, joint loans, nominations and inheritance all ask for the certificate, and the Supreme Court directed compulsory registration in 2006. Late registration carries only a small penalty, ₹25–1,000 depending on the state, so file it.
Yes, in every state, with a joint affidavit explaining the delay and a late fee of ₹100–1,000: Maharashtra registers 'at any time' with a penalty up to ₹500, Haryana needs the Chief Registrar's permission after a year, Delhi takes the application online. Bring the wedding card, photographs of the ceremony and two witnesses who attended.
Hold the religious ceremony and register it under the Hindu Marriage Act the same week: the ceremony itself makes the marriage, Delhi issues the certificate in 24 hours with its ₹10,000 tatkal fee, Karnataka within a working day, Uttar Pradesh online. An Arya Samaj ceremony works the same way. The Special Marriage Act route cannot be faster than 30 days from notice.
Yes. The Special Marriage Act is open to any two adults regardless of religion, so two Hindus can choose it for a civil marriage without a ceremony. Give 30 days' notice to the Marriage Officer in a district where one of you has lived 30 days, then sign before three witnesses. Many couples prefer a Hindu ceremony plus registration, which is faster.
Valid as a Hindu marriage if the Vedic rites, including the saptapadi, were actually performed, and the Allahabad High Court said so again in 2025. The mandir's certificate alone is not proof: the same court and the Supreme Court have warned that certificates issued without a real ceremony prove nothing, so register the marriage with the state afterwards. Mandir charges run about ₹5,000–20,000.
In practice, it cannot. In Goa the civil registration is the marriage: two signatures at the civil registrar fifteen days apart, and one partner must hold a residence certificate from the Mamlatdar, which needs more than six months in the state. Non-resident couples hold the ceremony in Goa and register the marriage at home under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act.
Roughly 0.5–2 percent of the sum insured, so about ₹25,000 to 1 lakh plus GST on a ₹50 lakh wedding; a cancellation-only cover starts near 0.15 percent. It covers cancellation caused by fire, earthquake or theft at the venue, or the death, injury or hospitalisation of a named person. Change of mind is excluded.
Wedding Insurance in India 2026: What It Covers, What It Costs and When It Is Worth Buying →
Yes. A Hindu ceremony is a valid marriage for Hindus of any nationality and is registered afterwards under the Hindu Marriage Act; any two adults, including foreign citizens, can marry under the Special Marriage Act after 30 days' notice. Bring passports, OCI cards where held, address proof, photographs and, for a foreign partner, an embassy certificate of marital status.
More questions, by topic