How can I finish marriage ceremony in Skyrim (bug workaround)?

Question

I have the same problem as many others have reported. When I attend the marriage ceremony, everything goes alright until my turn to answer to Maramal with the option "Yes, I do". After that, Maramal is still speaking but my potential wife is already leaving the temple and ceremony. So... the problem is that I didn't obtain a wedding ring, which I believe is essential to be "married". Also, if I speak to my potential spouse quickly after Maramal's speech while still in the temple, I have no option in conversation for asking her "Where we are going to live?" She just leaves the ceremony and returns to her place.

So something is broken that prevents me from getting "married" and completing the marriage quest. I also note that the priests in the temple of Mara are still sitting at their chairs, waiting to finish the ceremony - which causes me to further suspect a glitch. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

As you point out, it seems you are not alone.

Marriage Ceremony: During your marriage ceremony, after your spouse gives his/her vows, they will sometimes randomly leave the temple while Maramal is still talking, and will disappear, not to be found anywhere. This can be solved if you quickly leave the ceremony and initiate the conversation with your spouse about where you should live.

There are fairly detailed guide here that provides a few details that may help you. As with any such bugs, it may end up that console commands are your only way out. A few things I'd suggest:

Be sure to own a house before re-attempting the marriage. It's possible you are not given the "Where do you want to live" dialog if you don't own a house. Since initiating that dialog has fixed the glitch for some folks, owning a home could be key.

After the Marriage, the partner will ask where the player wants to live, giving him/her the choice between the partner's house or in The Dragonborn's house, if applicable.

Get cold feet and skip the whole ceremony. That may reset somethings and work it out for your next attempt. Wait 24 hours (in game) and try again.

If the player misses his Wedding Ceremony, they can approach the intended partner and ask for another chance. Maramal will then agree to host another ceremony, the next day.

There are more fish in the sea. Try another lucky lad or lass. The bug may be specific to the NPC you've chosen.

Use the console. You may have to do some experimenting. Remember to save before any console witchcraft, as it can create as many bugs as it fixes. The wiki provides several options, but the most appropriate seems to breakup using:

completequest 0007431B

resetquest 0007431B

resetquest 00021382

setrelationshiprank player 4

Then re-propose, and hopefully on the next run through it will work out. I'm summarizing significantly, and I haven't tested this myself, so I strongly suggest you read the Wiki.

Answer 2

Alright. I'm confident I figured it out. It took a few days for me though as this whole marriage thing is so complex.

A lot of the wedding has to do with the actors that spawn in as guests. If you have too many people that like you, then they will override the quest and the wedding will wait for them to all spawn in.

If you're playing on a modded game, then disable the mods that will give you free followers or people that will spawn in your game and already like you right off the bat. (Sjel Vlad castle is one of these mods.) Just disable those mods and try the wedding ceremony again.

If you're playing unmodded, then you may also have a similar problem. Try hitting or killing some of the unimportant NPCs that like you and may show up to your wedding. Also, tell your wife to part ways after you talk to the priest. (Everything ran smoothly on my part. I hope it works the same for you.)

Answer 3

I had the same problem. I searched the whole internet fot solutions, and I finally found this solution:

When on PC, fill in this command:

Setstage 7404e 100

This will complete the ceremony and everybody will leave the temple.

Answer 4

You must wait 24 hours and it must be day time