Planning a wedding, FAQ
• A complimentary online or face to face meeting before you commit. We talk about your plans, our process, and how we work together on your ceremony.
• As much communication as needed to build a custom ceremony.
• Access to our extensive online resource library for inspiration.
• Assistance with choosing or writing personal vows.
• Professional officiant for up to 2 hours on the wedding day.
• Keepsake commemorative certificate.
• Upon request presence/assistance at rehearsal (may be charged extra).
Yes, of course! As symbolic celebrants we perform ceremonies in gardens, on the beach, private houses, castles…the sky is the limit!
We arrive an hour before starting time to set up and liaise with hotel staff, musicians, photographers for where to stand during special moments. We also double check with your contact person for any last-minute changes to the ceremony words or participants.
Absolutely, once you book with us you will be given a library of ideas and inspiration and we work with you to create meaningful memorable vows.
Our process is somewhat unique.
As wedding celebrants, our primary goal is to custom write or at least customize and personalize your wedding ceremony.
After the booking process has been completed, we send out to you some wedding ceremony information with certain documents, as well as a link to your personalized portal. In the portal (among other things) is a questionnaire pertaining to your ceremony – each questionnaire is different depending upon the package selected.
We ask that you complete the questionnaire in advance of any in-person or Skype meeting. Our questionnaire asks various questions so that we can prepare a ceremony that is right for you. Upon meeting with you via Skype or in person (depending upon your ceremony package selection) we review the questionnaire in detail, answer any of your questions, obtain clarification on answers, and provide you with options as to the content of the ceremony.
At the same time, we can run through the order of the ceremony, the procession and any other details you wish to discuss. We want you to feel comfortable about the ceremony and your wedding day. We realize that the ceremony can be the most daunting of all of the events on your wedding day and we will do everything possible to make you feel relaxed and comfortable at the most special moment in time.
Don’t worry, we know the right questions to ask, and we can put the ceremony together for you without adding to your stress, we’ve been creating ceremonies for years and you’re in safe hands. You have enough to think about and because we specialize in the art of ceremony, you can pass all that worry on to us.
The easiest way to think about it is just as you register a newborn baby with your registration office then you decide if you would like to have a religious baptism or christening or can also choose to have a celebrant led Baby Naming Ceremony to celebrate the addition to your family.
Just as you register a death with your registration office then you decided if you would like to have a religious funeral ceremony or have a celebration of life service led by a celebrant
Step one
You register your intent to marry which is your legal notice of marriage, with the registration office for £35 each person.
Step two
You have the choice to return to the local registration office to complete the legal marriage wording and sign the marriage schedule (details below) this is known as a registry office legal marriage with the two people being married and two witnesses which costs approximately £50 – therefore you can be legally married for the total price of approximately £120 plus £11 for any marriage certificates you require.
or
You have the option to choose a venue with a licensed room and pay the price for the registrars to attend the venue and carry out the legal ceremony for you, that may have time constraints and you may be limited to wording and other restrictions.
Or you have the legal marriage at the registration office for approximately £120 then you choose to have a celebrant led wedding to celebrate wherever you want, when you want and however you want.
Step three, the reason to use a celebrant
The marriage is the legal part, but the wedding is the celebration, therefore you can have your wedding celebration anywhere, on a football pitch, the beach, even your own back garden.
With a celebrant led wedding you still exchange vows, rings and are still given away. You sign a lovely commemorative wedding certificate, this choice is much more flexible to you, which is not time constraint, you’re not limited to wording that you use, and you have the freedom to include friends, family into the ceremony, have handfasting or symbolic elements added, the freedom is in your hands.
From the 4th of May 2021 the Marriage schedule system has been implemented.
The Marriages, Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019. This act modernised how marriages are registered for the first time since 1837.
What changed?
• Couples no longer sign a marriage register or are given a Marriage Certificate during the ceremony, instead, they will sign a Marriage Schedule. This is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage.
• Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
• Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage from the registrar Once the details of the marriage have been entered into the legal electronic register a marriage certificate will be posted to the couple within 7 days of the ceremony where this has been pre-paid.
Marriages in Religious Buildings (not Church of England)
• The Marriage Schedule will be issued by the Registration Office in the district that the marriage will take place following legal preliminaries.
• Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
• Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage.
• The relevant person from the Religious Building or their representative will be expected to return the signed schedule to the Register Office in the District where the marriage took place within 21 days and only then can a Marriage Certificate be issued by the Register Office after a further 7 days.
Church of England Marriages
• Couples will no longer sign a marriage register or be given a Marriage Certificate during the ceremony, instead, they will sign a Marriage Document. This is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage. The Marriage Document will be issued by the Minister at the Church where the marriage is taking place.
• The Marriage Document is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage.
• Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
• Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage.
• The Minister or their representative will be expected to return the signed Marriage Document to the Register Office in the District where the marriage took place within 21 days.
• The details of the marriage will be entered onto the electronic marriage register within the following 7 days and only then can a Marriage Certificate be issued.
• Marriage Certificates will be available from the registration service in the area where the marriage took place.
