Wedding Celebrant or Registrar?
Why should you choose a Wedding Celebrant, instead of a Registrar?
Wedding Celebrant ceremonies are superior, for many reasons
OK, shall we get the obvious out of the way first? Yes, I am a Wedding Celebrant. So, yes - I am incredibly biased. However, continue reading and I am utterly convinced that you’ll agree with me on why having an Independent Celebrant to officiate your wedding is a no brainer.
Quickly before we get stuck into the reasons, I want you to know that I am deeply sentimental, I don’t like following generic or societal expectations, yet I’m also very pragmatic, logical and love a bargain.
If you share any of these sentiments, then you’re going to love what you’re about to learn about Celebrant led ceremonies.
Your Love Story takes Centre Stage
One of the main benefits of having a Celebrant lead your wedding ceremony is how much personalisation and sentimentality you can infuse into it. Let’s be honest, planning a wedding is A LOT, and with so much to think about, the ceremony often gets pushed to the back of the priority list.
But riddle me this: the ceremony is the heart of your wedding. It’s the part of your day that is most poignant, emotional and significant. Yet it’s the part of your day that is most forgettable, and often seen as “the dull bit”.
That’s because with a registrar they have to stick to certain scripting, from a legal standpoint. It feels dull and generic because it’s merely a tick box exercise for them… but not with a Celebrant!
We make it our mission to ensure that your love story takes centre stage. We get to you know, how you met, what you love most about each other, what your hopes and dreams are for the future and we weave it into a bespoke, totally unique and personalised ceremony that reflects you and your relationship, both in content and tone.
Regardless of whether you want the vibe to be romantic and heartfelt, or relaxed and humorous - your love story should be at the centre of it. Book an Independent Celebrant, and it will be.
2. A Friendly Face to Calm Any Nerves
Picking a Celebrant to officiate your wedding means you’re getting to choose someone who is (usually, please check!) fully trained in what they do, AND a person you *actually like.
Having spent time with your Celebrant, sharing stories about each other and your relationship, you’ll have built a cosy working relationship (and often a friendship) with your Celebrant.
So when you’re walking down the aisle, with your stomach full of butterflies on the biggest day of your life, you’ll have not just a professional, but a friend there with you too.
Please think carefully about the fact you don’t get to pick your registrar - you’re at the mercy of who the council assign to you. You don’t get to meet the Registrar before the day itself, and they won’t be there long before they’re shooting off to their next appointment.
Hardly screams personal or friendly, does it? We both know your ceremony deserves better than that.
3. Budget Friendly
Now, I bet you’re thinking “It can’t be a budget friendly option because I have to pay for the legal bit at the registry office and the Celebrant too. Surely it’s a more expensive option?”.
So yes, you do have to do all the legalities still, but that doesn’t negate the fact we’re still budget friendly. Let me explain…
Firstly, hiring a Celebrant is often very similarly priced to booking a registrar to attend your wedding (registrars’ can cost around £900 at peak times on a Saturday), but you’ll be able to pop to the registry office before the wedding day for the legalities, which can cost as little as £50.
So in terms of the cost to get legally married and have a bespoke ceremony, it works out at much of a muchness.
Secondly, (and this is where our Celebrant budget-friendly trump card comes in,) as a Celebrant we can conduct your ceremony anywhere. And I’m not exaggerating either.
Want to get married in the field where your marquee is going? Not a problem.
Found a beautiful building, but they don’t have a marriage licence? We don’t need one.
Trying to keep the whole thing more low key, and have a garden party? Let’s do it.
One of the reasons wedding venues are so expensive is because of the fees they have to pay to the council for the marriage licenses. Some venues have multiple rooms and outdoor structures that are covered (because you can’t license a whole building and choose any room, they have to be registered individually) which ramps up the cost of the venue.
It’s becoming very popular now to have more alternative weddings, at more unusual locations, and with a Celebrant we get to make that happen. Remember, it’s your day, your way.
4. Unlimited Flexibility
With a Celebrant you’re able to customise every detail of your ceremony until it feels exactly like you both.
Not only can you hold your wedding anywhere (as discussed in the point above!), but you can include any readings, music, symbolic elements or religious traditions.
Therefore if you both have a mixed religious or cultural background, you can create something bespoke to honour that fully.
You can totally change up the order of how the ceremony runs (if you want), miss out parts that don’t feel authentic to you, add in more elements that you think will be fun, and write personalised vows to reflect what you *actually want to say to each other.
There is very little personalisation that can be done with a Registrar, because of their limitation on time (they’ll have to leave quickly), as well as the limitations they have on changes to wording because of legal aspects. It stands to reason though, cos since when has the legal part of anything been the fun or romantic part of an occasion?!
Convinced, or at least Curious?
If you’re convinced (or your curiosity has been raised), then I urge you to reach out to a Celebrant you resonate with. So many of us have our own styles and ways of doing things, that I know a Celebrant led ceremony is going to add so much sentiment and fun to your big day. Send me an enquiry here and we can chat more about your questions and ideas.
Big love,
Sarah OC xox
