Celebrant Or registrar… Which Is Better?
It can be a bit of a minefield when organising a ceremony, so let me help explain the difference between the two, and maybe this will help you decide…
Celebrant ceremonies are free from restriction, which means you can get married or have the funeral ceremony anytime, anywhere, and exactly in the way that you decide.
Want to involve family members? Include the story of how you met, or that heartfelt memory that holds so much value? Perhaps a symbolic rituals? Mixing traditions from your different cultures and religions to whatever degree you like? All of these aspects are possible, and you have complete creative control. The possibilities really are endless.
This means you get a truly personalised ceremony that includes all the elements you want and that really tells your story in a way that showcases what is most important to you or your loved one. It can be entirely reflective of your style, personality and taste. Plus, your celebrant will put a whole lot of love into giving you the most special and personalised ceremony that will hold such meaning and value, specific to you and what you want.
However, when it comes to registrar ceremonies it’s a very different story. With weddings, they last only 15 minutes, you can only get married in a licensed venue and the script you would recite is the same stock words for every single couple. You also won’t be allowed to include any religious or spiritual elements, any personalised rituals or feature poems and songs of your choosing, and you won’t meet your registrar until the day.
Similarly, the funeral ceremonies, a registrar will most likely stick to facts and a list a stream of dates, which we all know are the least interesting things about a person’s life. What date someone was born and what school they went to is largely irrelevant. Who the person was, what their values and interests were, what and who did they love, how did they spend their time, what will their legacy be…this is the fabric of a person’s life.
For weddings, the only advantage is that registrars can perform the legal aspect and, at the moment, a celebrant can’t. But a recent marriage reform bill means it won’t be long until we can! But until then, fear not, there’s a simple solution!
You can very easily tick off this legal side by going to a register office on a date before your wedding day, tick the legal box and then have a celebrant led ceremony on your special day.
To tick off the legal side you will need to book in for a basic legal ceremony at a registry office (most people do this a week before their ceremony).
This simply involves saying a couple of scripted sentences and signing a bit of paperwork. This means you can save all of the special bits like exchanging rings and saying vows for your wonderfully personal celebrant ceremony with all of your friends and family.
You will also have to do something called giving notice before your legal ceremony, which is just signing another piece of paperwork to say that you intend to get married. All in all, the whole process will cost between £120-150 (depending on where you live) and I will happily help you along the way and can give advice on timings and the legal bit!
Whichever ceremony you are looking to organise – for all the detail, personalisation and meaning a celebrant-led ceremony will give you and your guests… the choice is obvious.
| IF A HAVE A… | CELEBRANT | REGISTRAR |
|---|---|---|
| Personalised ceremony script | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Any location | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Any time of day | ✔️ | ❌ |
| No restrictions of duration of ceremony | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Can include religious and spiritual content | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Choice of who officiates your ceremony | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Legalises the marriage | ❌ | ✔️ |