In Skyrim, the player has the option of marrying an NPC, regardless of race or gender. In order to marry an NPC you must raise their disposition towards you and then wear an Amulet of Mara that signifies that you wish to marry them. If the player owns a property, his or her spouse can optionally move in with them, and will provide a variety of benefits.
There are a few ways to obtain the Amulet of Mara. The first would be to find one in random loot. One is confirmed to be at Bleak Falls Barrow, second is in tent near Hela’s Folly shipwreck. You can also head to the Riften Temple of Mara and give 200 gold to Maramal. Alternatively, you can speak with a priest in the Temple of Mara and obtain a quest of love for Mara. Upon completing all objectives, you will be finally rewarded with the Amulet of Mara.
However, it is important to note that you will not be able to marry anyone until you have spoken to Maramal about marriage. Even if you have obtained the amulet from the quest, you still need to speak with him for any action to be taken upon it. For example, one cannot marry Ysolda of Whiterun until this is complete. It should be noted that if you’ve not visited The Bee and Barb before, Maramal will be there and not in the temple.
After having approached a marriable NPC, they will mention the amulet you are wearing. You can then ask if they are interested. They will respond and ask if you are interested as well. If you say yes, you can then proceed to marriage. In order to complete the event, you will now need to travel back to the Temple of Mara in Riften and arrange the event. It is worth mentioning here that, if you decide you might not have picked the right person, you CAN say you can’t go through with the ceremony. Then you need to talk to your spouse (who will be waiting by the doors of the Temple of Mara). Right after saying “I do”, be sure to talk to your spouse before he or she leaves the temple to choose whether you wish to live with the NPC, or have them move in with you. You may lose your spouse if he or she leaves the temple without you mentioning where she will move to. Afterwards, you can talk to your spouse to move later when you get a new house, change houses, or even have them move back to their own original house.
Upon visiting your spouse in your home (or your spouse’s house), you will be able to ask about their financial situation. After the next day, you will be able to collect an accumulating daily income of about 100 gold from your spouse (whether your spouse lives in your house or your spouse’s house). In addition, if your spouse has moved in with you (not you move into your spouse’s house), your spouse becomes a merchant, allowing you to buy and sell general items. This buying and selling option is unrelated to the 100 daily gold your spouse gets no matter what house your spouse moves into.
Benefits
- A player’s spouse will prepare one home cooked meal a day, which will boost health, stamina, and magicka regeneration for x amount of time.
- Note that though there is a unique dialogue option for each spouse character when asked to prepare this meal, the item received will always be the same.
- Spouses that are also followers can still follow you.
- Any NPC can be made a follower by the console command “addtofaction 5C84D 0” with them selected. This will add your spouse to the PotentialFollowerFaction and give him/her the necessary dialogue to be selected as a follower.(Note: This does not seem to work with Shahvee. Possibly due to the fact that the required voice clips aren’t included for female Argonian followers.)
- If your spouse is acting as a companion, equipment can be exchanged with him/her.
- Your spouse will occasionally surprise you with a gift.
- Your spouse will set up a store “somewhere” and earn a cumulative 100 gold a day for you.
- If your spouse moves in with you, he or she will purchase and sell general goods with you.
- If your spouse is naturally a merchant, they will buy and sell the same goods they would normally. If not, they will sell miscellaneous goods and seemingly items you leave in their inventory.
- Sleeping near to your spouse will give you the resting bonus “Lover’s Comfort”, which gives the same effect as the Lover Stone (15% skill mastery speed), however only for 8 hours
NPCs Available to be Married
These two tables detail all of the possible spouses, their race, their location, what houses they own (if any), if they are able to be a follower, what they deal in, and what they train. Also in these tables is what you need to do to have them as a marriage prospect. If your spouse has property, you can elect to move in to their property (your items placed inside their property will not disappear), otherwise, you must purchase a house for your spouse to move in to your property. Property can be considered a business property, living property, or both. Sometimes the property is a whole house, a stall for selling stuff, or just a small room inside a house. If you marry and both of you don’t have a living property, your spouse will be a homeless spouse, showing up where you regularly see them (at a regular place or wandering around with no place to sleep with you). Take note that spouse’s business property may no longer sell items after you move in. A follower spouse is able to will go with you on quests, and take orders. If the spouse lives at his or her own property, your spouse will live normally like before, visiting different places and doing different stuff. If your spouse moves in to your house, he or she won’t ever leave your house (unless they are a follower and you command them). All spouses will set up a shop “somewhere” and earn 100 gold daily for you wherever they live. But if your spouse lives in your house, you can get an extra option of buying and selling items with them. You can get free training from a trainer spouse by stealing your gold back after training (spouse does not attack you if you are caught). If your spouse moves in to your house, and your sneak skill is high enough, you can purchase things from your spouse and steal the money back (if caught your spouse doesn’t let you steal anymore).
Once married, if the spouse owns property (like a house and the items within), taking things inside it is no longer considered stealing. You don’t need to move in to your spouse’s property first to get this effect, but if their house is normally locked, you need to move in initially to their house to get their key (for example, Aeri’s House). You can move out to your own house later. Taking someone’s property is considered stealing (items are in red text). If you do favors for someone, you normally get to sleep in their bed and take some of the cheaper items in their house without stealing. However, most of the more expensive stuff are still denoted in red text. After marriage, these expensive property (if it is theirs) are no longer denoted in red text. Note that the spouse’s property may simply be only a bed somewhere. For example, Dravynea the Stoneweaver’s house is Braidwood Inn (where you need to go to meet her if you move in with her), but she only owns a bed inside a small room in there. She shares that room with others (the room does not have her name associated with it), so nothing in that room except the bed is her property. Therefore, all the chests and items in the small room and elsewhere in the whole inn does not belong to her (taking things will still be considered stealing after marriage). To make the matter even worse, you can already sleep in her bed before marriage after doing her a favor (giving Frost Salt), so getting her property after marriage (a bed) is not a considered a good investment in this case. Renting a room in Braidwood Inn only rents out the big bed in the master bedroom for 24 in-game hours, so even that has no effect on chests or items in that room or the things in the small room where Dravynea sleeps normally. Note that if your spouse shares ownership of a house with someone else before marriage, other people will be living there after marriage when you elect to move in to your spouse’s house.
A spouse cannot move into free houses or living places you got because of completing certain quests or joining certain factions, they must be purchased.
Females
| Name | Location | Conditions for Marriage |
|---|---|---|
| Aela the Huntress | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Aeri | Anga’s Mill | Work for her by chopping firewood |
| Anwen | Markarth (Temple of Dibella) | Complete The Heart of Dibella |
| Avrusa Sarethi | Sarethi Farm | Complete their favor |
| Borgakh the Steel Heart | Mor Khazgur | Convince her to become a Follower |
| Brelyna Maryon | Winterhold (College of Winterhold) | Complete both her favors |
| Camilla Valerius | Riverwood (Riverwood Traders) | Complete The Golden Claw |
| Dravynea the Stoneweaver | Kynesgrove (Braidwood Inn) | Give Frost Salt |
| Ghorza gra-Bagol | Markarth (Blacksmith Shed) | Complete their favor |
| Gilfre | Mixwater Mill | Work for her by chopping firewood |
| Grelka | Riften (Open Market) | Complete their favor |
| Iona | Riften (Honeyside) | Become Thane of the Rift |
| Jenassa | Whiterun (Drunken Huntsman) | Hire them at least once |
| Jordis the Sword-Maiden | Solitude (Proudspire Manor) | Become Thane of Haafingar |
| Lydia | Whiterun (Dragonsreach or Breezehome) | Become Thane of Whiterun |
| Mjoll the Lioness | Riften | Complete her favor by retrieving her sword, Grimsever |
| Muiri | Markarth (Hag’s Cure) | Complete Mourning Never Comes |
| Njada Stonearm | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Orla | Markarth (Temple of Dibella) | Complete The Heart of Dibella |
| Ria | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Senna | Markarth (Temple of Dibella) | Complete The Heart of Dibella |
| Shahvee | Windhelm (Argonian Assemblage) | Complete their favor |
| Sylgja | Shor’s Stone | Complete their favor |
| Taarie | Solitude (Radiant Raiment) | Complete their favor |
| Temba Wide-Arm | Ivarstead | Complete their favor |
| Uthgerd the Unbroken | Whiterun (Bannered Mare) | Challenge her to a brawl and win |
| Viola Giordano | Windhelm (Candlehearth Hall) | Start Revyn Sadri’s favor but then rat him out to Viola |
| Ysolda | Whiterun (Open Market) | Complete their favor |
Males
| Name | Location | Conditions for Marriage |
|---|---|---|
| Ainethach | Karthwasten | Complete their favor |
| Angrenor Once-Honored | Windhelm (Candlehearth Hall) | Take pity and give the beggar a gold piece |
| Argis the Bulwark | Markarth (Vlindrel Hall) | Become Thane of the Reach |
| Athis | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Balimund | Riften | Complete their favor |
| Belrand | Solitude (Winking Skeever) | Hire them at least once |
| Benor | Morthal | Challenge him to a brawl and win |
| Calder | Windhelm (Hjerim) | Become Thane of Eastmarch |
| Cosnach | Markarth (Silver-Blood Inn) | Challenge him to a brawl and win |
| Derkeethus | Darkwater Crossing | Find and rescue him |
| Erik the Slayer | Rorikstead | Complete his favor to make him a hireling |
| Farkas | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Filnjar | Shor’s Stone | Complete Mine or Yours |
| Gat gro-Shargakh | Left Hand Mine/Kolskeggr Mine | Complete Pavo Attius’s favor to liberate Kolskeggr Mine |
| Ghorbash the Iron Hand | Dushnikh Yal | Convince him to become a follower |
| Marcurio | Riften (Bee and Barb) | Hire them at least once |
| Moth gro-Bagol | Markarth (Understone Keep) | Complete their favor |
| Octieve San | Solitude | Complete their favor |
| Omluag | Markarth (Markarth Smelter) | Complete their favor |
| Onmund | Winterhold (College of Winterhold) | Complete their favor |
| Pavo Attius | Left Hand Mine/Kolskeggr Mine | Complete his favor to liberate Kolskeggr Mine |
| Perth | Soljund’s Sinkhole | Complete their favor |
| Quintus Navale | Windhelm (The White Phial) | Complete Repairing the Phial |
| Revyn Sadri | Windhelm (Sadri’s Used Wares) | Complete their favor |
| Roggi Knot-Beard | Kynesgrove | Complete their favor |
| Romlyn Dreth | Riften (Black-Briar Meadery) | Complete their favor |
| Scouts-Many-Marshes | Windhelm (Argonian Assemblage) | Complete their favor |
| Sondas Drenim | Darkwater Crossing | Complete their favor |
| Sorex Vinius | Solitude (Winking Skeever) | Complete their favor |
| Stenvar | Windhelm (Candlehearth Hall) | Hire them at least once |
| Torvar | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Vilkas | Whiterun (Jorrvaskr) | Complete the Companions Questline |
| Vorstag | Markarth (Silver-Blood Inn) | Hire them at least once |
| Wilhelm | Ivarstead (Vilemyr Inn) | Complete Wilhelm’s Specter |