Elder Scrolls :Skyrim offers a variety of incredibly robust systems to interact with that offer limited gameplay advantages but add immeasurably to the story and role-play experience of the game. One such system is the ability for your character to get married. There are over 70 NPCs available for marriage — but with the magic of mods, those are frankly rookie numbers. Especially when a certain Serana steals the hearts of the half the playerbase.

With this guide, we'll show you the ropes on how to romance Serana. Once the wedding's finished, you can look forward to spending an eternity with one of The Elder Scrolls' strongest-written characters — or at least however many hundreds more hours you spend on your file before calling it quits.

Updated November 5, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: Skyrim springs eternal, and folks will be thinking about marrying Serana for years to come. No, decades. There's no official way to make it happen, but then, do you really think that'd stop the Elder Scrolls fandom?

Who Is Serana in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim?

Serana is a vampire featured in the Skyrim expansion Dawnguard. You'll first meet Serana during the "Awakening" quest in the Dimhollow Crypt while investigating the Hall of the Vigilant attack. After setting her free, Serana will ask you to help her get home to Castle Volkihar in order to find out what happened to her mother Valerica.

Serana is the daughter of Valerica and Lord Harkon, the main antagonist in the Dawnbreaker DLC. Serana is one of the few known pureblood vampires, and as such, is titled one of the "Daughters of Coldharbour."

Lord Harkon discovers a prophecy called the Tyranny of the Sun, which has led him to believe that by collecting a series of artifacts, including two Elder Scrolls, he can purge sunlight from the world, giving vampires the ability to walk freely day and night. There's just one wrinkle: he needs to sacrifice his daughter in order to do so.

How To Get Married In Skyrim

In order to get married in Skyrim, you must first complete the quest "The Bonds of Matrimony." To receive the quest, speak with Maramal in the Temple of Mara. Maramal will instruct you to procure an Amulet of Mara.

Maramel will sell you the amulet for 200 gold, but there are other ways to obtain one. A priestess named Dinya Balu at the Temple of Mara will give you a quest called "The Book of Love." At the end of the quest, you will have an Amulet of Mara you can use to get married. You can also find an amulet in random loot and shops.

Once you have the amulet, identify the person you would like to marry, and speak to them while wearing the amulet to propose. (Simpler times, eh?) Once you've done so, head back to the Temple of Mara to arrange the wedding. Leave the temple and wait until you receive the objective "Attend your wedding." Then, return to the temple and the wedding will begin.

Why Can't You Marry Serana In Skyrim?

Marriage has numerous benefits in Skyrim, including a daily home-cooked meal, a store that provides passive income, and occasional gifts from your spouse. Not to mention the role-play advantages of getting married, as doing so will advance your personal story. It's a meaningless metric to some, but an invaluable one for many others.

Though your options for marriage are many, including male and female characters and a dozen choices of race, there is one limitation in Skyrim that will prevent you from marrying Serana: you cannot marry vampires.

While it is possible to turn your spouse into a vampire in the Dawnguard expansion, once you yourself have become a vampire, it isn't possible to marry someone who is already a vampire, like Serana. Fortunately, this is where fan mods come in to pick up the slack and give players what they want.

Adding The Mod That Lets You Marry Serana In Skyrim

The mod, simply titled "Marriable Serana," was created by C0drm0nk33 and is available on NexusMods. Here are the steps to take if you want to marry Serana on PC:

• You may need to purchase and install the Dawnguard expansion in order for the mod to work, so do that first. If you have Special Edition or Anniversary Edition, it comes free.
• Download "Marriable Serana" by clicking "manual" next to download on NexusMods.
• Unzip the file and add it to your Skyrim folder, usually found at C / Program Files (x86) / Steam / steamapps / common / Skyrim and move the mod folder into Skyrim's data folder.

If you're playing the game on a PS5 or Xbox Series version (or their previous-gen counterparts), you can still mod your file accordingly. On PS4/PS5, search for "Marry Me Serana" within the game's mods menu. On Xbox One/Series, you ought to be able to use the "Marriable Serana" mod as-is (and you can look it up either within the mods menu in-game or on Bethesda's website).

Marrying Serana works just like marrying any other NPC in Skyrim, so after proposing, go to the Temple of Mara to set up the wedding - and that's it. You're now married to the spookiest lady in Skyrim. Kill the father, marry the daughter, what more could you want out of life?

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