How to Get Married in Skyrim | Skyrim Marriage Guide

A roleplaying game that lets you make hundreds of unique choices that impact the world would feel incomplete without a system for marriage. Fortunately, The Elder Scrolls V: Skrim comes with the ability to find a suitable partner that you can live with for the rest of your playthrough.

While not long, the whole process can feel a bit confusing without any instructions. This step-by-step guide should show you how to get married in Skyrim without much trouble and move in with your spouse so you can begin your happily married life.

The Hearthfire DLC for Skyrim expands the features available in the base game to also let you build your own house and adopt up to two children.

How to get a wife in Skyrim? (Or a Husband)

Getting married in Skyrim requires a little preparation, after which it becomes a straightforward process. The following steps should guide you on your path to marriage in Skyrim without much trouble.

Step 1: Go to the Temple of Mara

Temple of Mara

The Temple of Mara in Riften is known for performing wedding ceremonies. Go to the temple and find the Red guard priest named Maramal. If he is not in the temple, you should be able to find him in the Bee and Bard.

Talking to Maramal about Mara and marriage should give you a lot of insight into how marriage in Skyrim works. In addition to a little bit of History, he will tell you about the Amulet of Mara and its symbolic meaning.

Step 2: Find an Amulet of Mara

Amulet of Mara

The Amulet of Mara is an important part of the equation of the marriage process. It lets potential partners know that you are available for marriage and are looking for a spouse.

The two most common ways to get an Amulet of Mara are purchasing it from Marmal after talking to him about his beliefs and acquiring it through the ‘Book of Love’ quest that can be started by speaking with Dinya Balu in the Temple of Mara,

You can also find the amulet by looting certain areas that hide it. If you’re lucky, you might even find regular merchants selling the item in stores.

Step 3: Find a Partner

Mjoll the Lioness
Mjoll the Lioness

Skyrim is full of amazing NPCs with unique personalities and belief systems. Many of these characters are viable options to be a marriage partner and may show interest in you once you wear the Amulet of Mara. Aela the Huntress, Mjoll the Lioness, Sondas Drenim, and Argis the Bulwark are some of the more popular options but do not let that limit your choice.

Make sure that you choose the character that is most suitable for you as marriage in Vanilla Skyrim cannot be undone. Your choice of an in-game spouse is a permanent decision, even after their death.

Remember to be on good terms with these characters to make them marriage candidates. You can do so by going through the right dialogue options and completing the questlines they are involved in.

Step 4: Get Married

Marriage Skyrim

This is the final and most obvious step in the process. Once you convince a character to get married to you, a quest will take you back to the temple of Mara where you can talk to the priest about having the wedding ceremony.

You will get married in the temple the next day in what will be a short animated scene. After this, you will be able to choose where your spouse lives and can meet them there.

Should you get married in Skyrim?

While going through the marriage ceremony is a fun little questline, you might want to consider the pros and cons of getting married in Skyrim.

Married life in Skyrim comes with a ton of advantages like receiving a homemade meal from your spouse once a day that boosts the regeneration of Health, Magicka, and Stamina. Sleeping in the same house as your spouse grants you a short-term buff called Lover’s comfort that boosts skill learning speed by 15%.

The only downside to getting married early in the game is the absence of a way to divorce your spouse without a mod or console command. So make sure to find a partner that you can stay around for the rest of your playthrough.

Does Skyrim Allow Polyamory?

Marriages in Vanilla Skyrim are strictly monogamous. The person you pick as a spouse becomes your only one for the rest of your playthrough, even if they are no longer alive.

Fortunately, mods for Skyrim can alter this limiting system if you want them to so you can have multiple marriage partners and remarry during your adventure.

Make sure to check out this list of mods that expand the boundaries of marriage in Skyrim.

Marriage is not a difficult process as long as you know how to go about it. Hopefully, the guide above on how to get married in Skyrim has provided you with enough knowledge to find a spouse and go through the process of marriage in the game.

Did you find this guide helpful? Who was your choice of spouse in Skyrim? Let us know in the comment section below.

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