In short
A solemniser is the licensed person who conducts your marriage ceremony and registers it with the Registry. If you marry at a Registry site, one is arranged for you; if you marry at your own venue, you search for and invite a solemniser yourself through the marriage.gov.sg portal, ideally three to six months ahead. This guide covers who solemnisers are, how to invite one, what to confirm beforehand, and what happens on the day.
- Only a licensed solemniser can conduct and register a marriage in Singapore
- At a Registry site, the Registry arranges the solemniser; at your own venue, you invite one through the portal
- Book three to six months before your date, since solemnisers may not commit any earlier
- A solemniser must accept your invitation through the portal before your Registry appointment
- Confirm the exact timing and the order of the ceremony with your solemniser ahead of the day
- Your official certificate of marriage is digital; a signed ceremonial certificate is optional
Who counts as a licensed solemniser
Only a licensed solemniser can legally conduct a marriage ceremony in Singapore and register it with the Registry. According to the Registry, solemnisers are volunteers, about 1,200 of them, and include religious leaders, Justices of the Peace, and chairpersons of community clubs or management committees.
Whoever solemnises your marriage, the core steps set by the Registry are the same: checking identification, taking your verbal consent, the vows and the registration. For the full process from application to certificate, see our guide to how ROM works in Singapore.
Who arranges the solemniser: the Registry or you
Whether you need to invite a solemniser yourself depends on where you plan to marry. If you solemnise at one of the Registry’s own sites, during its office hours, the Registry arranges the solemniser for you. If you solemnise at a venue of your own choosing, such as your home or an outdoor location, you are responsible for finding and inviting a licensed solemniser through the portal.
This is usually one of the earliest decisions to settle, since it determines whether inviting a solemniser is even a task on your list. Couples marrying at their own venue should treat it as one of the first bookings to make, alongside the venue itself and your two witnesses.
How to invite a solemniser through the portal
If you are marrying at your own venue, you search for and invite a licensed solemniser through the Our Marriage Journey portal at marriage.gov.sg, by name or by criteria such as your preferred language. Once you send an invitation, the Registry states that solemnisers aim to reply within 48 hours. If you have not heard back by then, the Registry suggests contacting the solemniser directly using the contact details provided. The solemniser must accept your invitation through the portal before your appointment with the Registry.
Use the time after they reply, and before your Registry appointment, to confirm the exact start time and talk through your plan for the ceremony with them directly. Their acceptance in the portal is a formal step, but the conversation with them about your day is what settles the details.
When to start looking
According to the Registry, bookings with a solemniser can be made three to six months before your solemnisation date, and solemnisers may not be able to commit any earlier than that. This sits inside the same window as your marriage application, which can be submitted up to six months ahead and no later than 21 days before your date.
In practice, your solemniser search and your application timeline run side by side. If a solemniser you have approached is unable to commit yet, it may simply be too early for them to confirm, rather than a sign to look elsewhere. Inviting early also leaves time for the solemniser to accept through the portal before your Registry appointment.
What to confirm with your solemniser beforehand
Once a solemniser has accepted your invitation, it is worth confirming a few practical points directly with them, since not everything is set by the Registry. Confirm the exact start time and the order of the ceremony, so there are no surprises for either of you on the day.
Attire is one area the Registry does set a boundary on: a solemniser may decline to proceed if attire is inappropriate for the occasion, with a shirt and pants or other formal wear expected for the groom, and a dress or other formal wear for the bride. Our guide on what to wear for ROM photos covers this in more detail.
If you are marrying at your own venue and want a signed ceremonial certificate as a keepsake, you print it yourself from a template on the portal, on A4 paper of your choice, and share a preview with your solemniser at least a day beforehand.
Anything beyond what the Registry sets out, such as any personal arrangement you would like to make with your solemniser, should be raised directly with them when you confirm the booking, rather than assumed.
What a solemniser does on the day
At a Registry site, you register your arrival with the Registry officer outside the room, or with the solemniser at the entrance if you are at the Ficus Room, then wait to be called in. The solemniser checks the identification of the two of you and your two witnesses, asks for your verbal consent, and leads your vows. Rings are optional. You then sign the ceremonial certificate together with your solemniser and witnesses, and are pronounced married. The whole ceremony takes about 10 minutes, and the marriage is registered the same day.
At your own venue, the steps are similar and take about 15 to 30 minutes. The identification check, consent and vows happen in the same way, but exchanging rings and signing a ceremonial certificate are both optional. Afterwards, your solemniser registers the marriage through the portal, and your digital certificate arrives by email within a week.
Since 25 September 2023, no hardcopy certificate has needed to be signed for a marriage to be legally registered. The digital certificate of marriage you receive by email is the official record; a signed ceremonial certificate, if you choose to have one, is a keepsake rather than the legal proof.
Registry sites vs a venue of your own choosing
The Registry’s own sites. The Registry runs solemnisations at two sites of its own: the Registry of Marriages, which has operated from a temporary site at The Esplanade Mall since 14 April 2025 while its Canning Rise building is redeveloped, and the Ficus Room at Gardens by the Bay. Slots at both are first-come-first-served and are booked only when you submit your marriage application, with a solemniser provided as part of the booking. At the Registry of Marriages, the solemnisation room holds up to 20 people, including the two of you and your two witnesses, and photo and video-taking are permitted there.
A venue of your own choosing. This gives you more room to decide the setting: home, a hotel, or an outdoor spot such as Mount Faber or the Botanic Gardens, on any day including weekends and public holidays, as long as the date falls within the legal time frame. The trade-off is that you take on the task of finding and inviting your own solemniser, rather than having one arranged for you.
For what a Registry-site ceremony looks like in practice, including the room and the order of events, see our guide to photographing a ROM at the Registry of Marriages.
Where this fits with your photography
A solemnisation is short, and the moments a solemniser leads, the consent, the vows, any certificate signing and the pronouncement, are also the moments your photographer or videographer needs to be ready for. Sharing your confirmed start time and the order of the ceremony with your solemniser is just as useful to pass on to whoever is covering your day.
If you are marrying at the Registry of Marriages, photo and video-taking are permitted in the solemnisation room itself, and it is worth counting your photographer and videographer within the room’s capacity when you plan who attends. Our guide to how photo time is used on ROM day sets out what to prioritise in those minutes, and our ROM and solemnisation photography page covers coverage options for either setting.
Solemniser requirements can change, so confirm the current process with the Registry before you invite one. If you would like your ceremony photographed or filmed, see our ROM and solemnisation photography or check your date with us.