Short answer. Very little in the way of ritual, and two things absolutely. The Family Code prescribes no form or religious rite, but both parties must appear personally before the solemnizing officer and declare, before at least two witnesses of legal age, that they take each other as husband and wife.

What the law says

No prescribed form or religious rite for the solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be necessary, however, for the contracting parties to appear personally before the solemnizing officer and declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age that they take each other as husband and wife.

Family Code, Article 6 — Marriage Ceremony; Personal Declaration. Read the full provision →

The ceremony can look like almost anything

Article 6 of the Family Code opens by clearing away what people usually worry about: No prescribed form or religious rite for the solemnization of the marriage is required. There is no script the officiant must read, no rite the law prefers, no minimum length. A civil ceremony in an office and a full religious liturgy satisfy the provision equally. What the law regulates is not the style of the occasion but two specific acts that must happen inside it, whatever else does.

Personal appearance and the declaration are the two hard requirements

The parties must appear personally before the solemnizing officer — not by representative, not by video link, not by written authority — and they must declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age that they take each other as husband and wife. Each element does work. The appearance must be before the officer; the declaration must be made by the parties themselves; the witnesses must number at least two and must themselves be of legal age. A ceremony that omits any of these has not met the article, however moving it was.

The certificate records it, and one exception covers the dying

Article 6 then requires the declaration to be contained in the marriage certificate, signed by the parties and their witnesses and attested by the solemnizing officer — which is why that document is the primary evidence of what happened. The article makes a single accommodation, for a marriage in articulo mortis: where the party at the point of death cannot sign, one of the witnesses may write that party's name, and the officer attests to that fact. If you are checking whether a past ceremony complied, the certificate and the identity of the two witnesses are where to start.

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.