Short answer. Yes, at least two, and they must be of legal age. The Family Code makes the ceremony a formal requisite and defines it as one where the couple personally declare that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses.

What the law says

A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age

Family Code, Article 3 — Formal Requisites of Marriage. Read the full provision →

Two witnesses, of legal age, at the moment of the declaration

Article 3 sets out three formal requisites, and the witnesses live inside the third. The ceremony must involve the appearance of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age. Two things follow from the wording. The number is a floor, not a target — a wedding with eight sponsors satisfies it as easily as one with two. And the witnesses must be present for the declaration itself, not merely at the reception or on the guest list.

What 'of legal age' means, and who may serve

Legal age here means eighteen and over, the same threshold the Code uses for capacity to marry. The article says nothing else about who may serve, so it does not require that a witness be a relative, a sponsor, a citizen, or someone who knows either party well. In practice the witnesses sign the marriage certificate, which is why couples usually choose people who can be found again years later if the marriage ever has to be proved. A witness who was genuinely present but did not sign is a paperwork problem; a signature from someone who was not there is a much worse one.

Absence of a formal requisite is not the same as an irregularity

This is the distinction that decides the question. The Code treats the total absence of a formal requisite very differently from a defect in how it was carried out: an irregularity does not by itself affect the validity of the marriage, though the party responsible for it can be held liable. So a marriage celebrated with nobody watching but the officer is in a different category from one where the two witnesses attended but one of them turned out to be seventeen, or where the certificate was signed by a third person who arrived late. The first attacks the requisite; the second is an irregularity in meeting it.

What to check afterwards

If you are planning a wedding, the only thing to arrange is that two adults are physically present when you and your partner say the words, and that those two sign the certificate. If you are reviewing a marriage that has already happened, get a copy of the marriage certificate from the civil registrar and look at the witness block: names, signatures, and whether they were adults on that date. Where the entries are blank or plainly wrong, that is worth putting in front of a lawyer with the certificate in hand, rather than guessing at what it means.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.