Civil wedding requirements in the Philippines: 2026 checklist, fees and steps

For a civil wedding in the Philippines, both partners need a marriage license from the Local Civil Registrar where one of you lives. For it you bring PSA birth certificates, CENOMARs, valid IDs and a family planning certificate, then wait out a 10-day posting. A judge or mayor marries you before two witnesses aged 18 or older.

If you want to see how a short city hall wedding looks as a one-page invitation for your guests, open this minimal sample invitation.

More Filipinos marry at a civil wedding than any other way. Of the 371,825 marriages registered in 2024, 155,604 (41.8 percent) were civil ceremonies, according to Philippine Statistics Authority figures reported by the Philippine News Agency. Roman Catholic weddings were 31.7 percent.

Every legal rule below links to the Family Code or another statute; fees come from two city halls' own pages, checked in September 2026.

What documents do you need for a civil wedding?

Each of you brings the same set. Quezon City's civil registry page asks for originals plus photocopies, and the registrar compares them on the spot.

The CENOMAR should be recent. PSAHelpline says it must be issued within six months before you apply for the license. Our CENOMAR guide covers ordering it and what an Advisory on Marriages means.

The law requires the Certificate of Compliance from every applicant, whatever your age. Republic Act 10354, Section 15 says no license is issued without it, and the local family planning office must issue it for free. Quezon City's page lists a Certificate of Family Planning from the City Health Department for every applicant, plus a separate marriage counseling certificate for ages 18 to 25. Davao City's marriage license page lists "Pre-Marriage Counseling Certificate / Certificate of Compliance" as one item. Ask your LCR which sessions it accepts; our pre-marriage counseling guide explains who attends what.

Davao City also asks for the cedula of both partners and of your parents. Requirements differ by LGU, so read your own city's list before you line up.

For the full filing process, see our marriage license guide.

What is the age requirement for a civil wedding?

You both must be 18 or older. A marriage where either partner is under 18 is void even with the parents' blessing (Article 35). Between 18 and 25, the law adds steps.

Parental consent does not always mean a parent at the counter. Article 14 allows two ways: the parent appears in person before the civil registrar, or signs a sworn affidavit in front of two witnesses. Davao City asks for a notarized consent form. If only one of you is under 26, the older partner still attends the counseling with you (Article 16).

How do you get the marriage license, step by step?

1. Get your PSA documents first. Everything after this step needs them.
2. Attend the family planning session (and marriage counseling, if either of you is 25 or younger). Ask your LGU for the schedule before you plan the rest.
3. Go together to the Local Civil Registrar of the city or municipality where either of you usually lives (Article 9). Both of you must appear. Each of you files a sworn application (Article 11).
4. Pay the fee at the treasurer's office. Quezon City charges ₱250 to file. Davao City charges ₱300 for the application and ₱200 for the license.
5. Wait for the posting. The registrar puts your names on a public bulletin board for 10 consecutive days (Article 17).
6. Claim the license. Quezon City releases it on the 11th day after you apply.

The license is good anywhere in the Philippines for 120 days from issue, then it cancels itself (Article 20). Apply no more than about four months before the wedding. A couple who can't afford the fee can ask for it free: Article 19 waives it for indigent applicants who swear to it.

How much does a civil wedding cost?

The paperwork is cheap. Prices for two people, checked September 2026:

The online prices are the PSA's document fee (₱155 or ₱210) plus ₱50 courier and ₱160 service, per PSAHelpline's own breakdown. That puts the documents and license at about ₱1,000 if you walk in to a PSA outlet and marry in Quezon City, and about ₱2,100 if you order online and marry in Davao City. Add cedulas and photos.

Neither city's page lists a fee for the ceremony itself. Ask the mayor's office or the court clerk when you book, and ask whether the officiant can travel to a venue and what that costs. The reception is a separate budget; our wedding cost guide covers it.

Who can officiate a civil wedding?

For a civil wedding, the officiant is a judge or a mayor. A sitting judge can marry you within the court's jurisdiction (Family Code, Article 7). A city or municipal mayor can too, under the Local Government Code (Sections 444 and 455). "Kasal sa huwes" means a wedding before a judge, but people use it for any civil wedding, mayor included.

The other officers in Article 7 are narrow:

• A Philippine consul, vice-consul or consul-general, for two Filipinos marrying abroad (Article 10).
• A ship captain or airplane chief, only when a partner is at the point of death during the trip (Article 31).
• A military commander of a unit with an absent chaplain, only for a partner at the point of death in a zone of military operation (Article 32).

A priest, imam, rabbi or minister can also marry you if registered with the civil registrar general and one of you belongs to their church. That is a religious wedding, though, and our church wedding requirements guide covers the Catholic version.

Can you have a civil wedding outside city hall?

Yes, with paperwork. Article 8 says a wedding happens in public, in the judge's chambers or open court, in a church or at a consul's office. The exception most couples use: both of you ask the officiant in writing for a place you name in a sworn statement. Quezon City lists this as a notarized Request for Celebration of Marriage, filed when the marriage is registered.

So a garden or restaurant wedding is legal. The harder part is finding a judge or mayor who will travel on your date. If your ceremony will be longer than the vows, our wedding program sample has a civil order of ceremony.

Who can be your witnesses?

You need at least two witnesses "of legal age" (Family Code, Articles 3 and 6). Legal age is 18 (Republic Act 6809). They watch you declare that you take each other as husband and wife, then sign the marriage certificate with you and the officiant.

A sibling and a best friend qualify. Many couples ask their ninong and ninang, who then appear as principal sponsors on the invitation. Our sponsors guide covers how many to ask, and the civil wedding invitation samples show how to list them.

What if you've lived together for five years?

You may not need a license at all. Article 34 exempts a couple who has lived together as husband and wife for at least five years, with no legal impediment to marrying each other. You both sign an affidavit of cohabitation before a notary. The officiant also swears that they checked you are free to marry.

That skips the posting and the license fee. Quezon City gives 30 days to register a marriage done this way, against 15 days for a licensed one. The condition is "without any legal impediment" to marry each other. If either of you was married to someone else during those years, talk to a lawyer before you rely on it.

Can you keep a civil wedding secret?

Only partly. There is no separate "secret wedding" process, and two things are public.

The 10-day notice goes on a bulletin board at the civil registry, open to anyone who walks by (Article 17). And after the wedding, the officiant must send the marriage certificate to the civil registrar within 15 days (Article 23), which forwards it to the PSA. Anyone who later requests a CENOMAR for either of you will find the marriage.

What you can keep small is the day itself: the two of you, the officiant and two witnesses, then an announcement when you're ready.

Civil wedding vs church wedding: what changes?

Both are equally valid. Plenty of couples marry civilly first and hold the church wedding later; ask your parish early what it needs from a couple already married, because the answer varies. Our Pre-Cana guide covers the church seminar.

What if one of you was married before, or is a foreigner?

A previous marriage has to be legally ended first. Quezon City asks for the court decision and certificate of finality for an annulment or divorce. A widowed partner brings the former spouse's death certificate. Divorce matters here only in one case: a Filipino whose marriage to a foreigner ended in a valid divorce abroad can remarry under Article 26, whichever spouse filed it (the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Republic v. Manalo), once a Philippine court has recognized the divorce.

A foreign partner needs a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage from their embassy or consulate before the license can be issued (Article 21). Stateless persons and refugees file an affidavit instead.

What happens after the ceremony?

The officiant gives you the original marriage certificate and sends two copies to the civil registrar within 15 days (Article 23). In Quezon City, registering it costs ₱30, and a certified copy from the city comes with it.

The PSA copy comes later. PSAHelpline says it takes 2 to 4 months from the city's transmittal in Metro Manila and at least 6 months elsewhere. Until then, the certified copy from your city or municipal civil registry is the one to use. Once it's out, a PSA copy costs ₱155 at an outlet or ₱365 delivered (checked September 2026). Our marriage certificate guide walks through requesting it.

If you want a prenuptial agreement, sign it before the wedding. Article 77 requires it in writing, signed before the ceremony. Without one, your property falls under absolute community (Article 75).

Once the date is set, tell your guests

A civil wedding for a dozen people needs no website. A message in your family group chat, or a printed card, is enough, and our civil wedding invitation samples have wording for both.

Once the guest list grows past the people you can call yourselves, Ceremo gives each household its own RSVP link, which you send through Messenger or Viber. Guests answer without making an account. You get a notification when a household replies, and your list shows who is attending, not attending, maybe or still pending. The seating chart and the seat finder QR for the reception are included. It's free for up to 50 guests.