A marriage ceremony requires two Registrars in attendance, one acting as the Celebrant who will conduct your marriage ceremony and take you through the spoken declarations and your vows. Don’t worry, you won’t need to remember them – the Registrar will say them, and you just need to repeat them back.
For a civil partnership, you are not legally required to make a declaration or spoken vows. If you wish, you may choose to have a ceremony where you will be able to exchange personal promises to each other.
The other Registrar will be responsible for the signing of the marriage schedule or civil partnership document. You and your partner will sign the document, followed by your witnesses and finally the two Registrars.
On the day of your ceremony you will both need to be interviewed immediately before your ceremony by the Registrar to check that the personal information recorded on your schedule is correct and accurate. This is the document you will sign during the ceremony, and the Registrar will be at the venue around 30 to 45 minutes before it begins.
You can choose to be interviewed together or separately – just indicate your preference when you return the ceremony choices information to us beforehand. The first person needs to arrive 20 to 30 minutes before the ceremony, and the second 10 to 15 minutes before.
It is extremely important that you and your guests arrive in plenty of time for the ceremony, as your Registrars will likely have other ceremonies to attend on the same day, which means we can’t delay the start of yours. Please make sure you allow enough time to get ready and arrive at the venue, including any time for photography you need prior to your ceremony.
| Traditional | Enhanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Book appointment with registrar to discuss/assist with ceremony | - | Optional |
| Interview with the registrar on the day of your ceremony | Compulsory | Compulsory |
| Registrar announces start of ceremony | Included | Included |
| Welcome and introduction by the registrar | Included | Included |
| Entrance - you may enter together or separately. If you wish a person of your choice can accompany you down the aisle. | Your choice of music played on our digital music system or the venue’s agreed system | Option to include live music |
| Giving Away | Optional | Optional |
| Reading | Optional | Optional |
| Declaratory vows - choose from 3 options | Compulsory | Compulsory |
| Contracting vows - choose from 3 options | Compulsory | Compulsory |
| Promises | Optional Choose from our selection provided | Optional Choose from our selection or write your own personal promise |
| Exchanging of rings | Optional Standard accompanying words | Optional Choose from a selection of words |
| Sand Ceremony or Joining of Hands ceremony | - | Option to include one of these options |
| Closing remarks by the registrar | Included | Included |
| Signing of the marriage schedule or civil partnership document | Compulsory Your song choice will be played | Compulsory Your song/live music to be played |
| Registrar’s final words and well wishes | Included | Included |
| Exit - followed by your guests | Your exit song to be played | Your exit song/live music to be played |
It is vital that you both as a couple fully understand the content of your ceremony and the legal statements you will be making. Any language barriers may have been noted when you completed your legal preliminaries (notices of marriage or civil partnership) and you will have been asked to provide an interpreter if the Registrars felt either one of you would not fully understand the words spoken in the ceremony.
An interpreter can be one of your guests – one party to the ceremony cannot interpret for the other. The person acting as interpreter will be asked to repeat the words being spoken in your own language, although your responses must be in English.
