Taking care of your legal marriage prior to your celebrant-led wedding ceremony

So, how do you ensure that you are taking care of all of the legal requirements? 

Currently, in England and Wales, celebrants are unable to deliver legally binding marriage ceremonies. Change is afoot and I have written a blog about this here. In the meantime, this is what you will need to do. 

Firstly, you will need to contact your local registration service and book an appointment to give notice. You have to give notice at the register office in the local authority in which you live. You will go to your appointment and are required to give notice at least 29 days before you plan to complete the legal side of things. Lots of my couple complete the legalities a few days before their wedding day but you have 12 months in which to get married legally once you have given notice.

When you ring up to book to give notice, enquire about having a 2 plus 2 ceremony, sometimes known as a simple ceremony. This ceremony requires you as the couple plus two witnesses to attend. It is usually held in an office environment and takes around ten minutes. Some local authorities offer a 2 plus 4 so that more people can attend but it varies from place to place.

A 2 plus 2 costs £74.50 in Bristol with some services charging slightly less. Before the 2 plus 2 ceremony, you will have to pay a statutory notice fee of £46.50 each. Therefore, the overall cost in Bristol is as follows - £46.50 + £46.50 (statutory notice fee x2) + £74.50 (marriage ceremony) which equals £167.50. Couples used to be given their marriage certificate on the day but now you will have to order one at a cost of £12.50. Therefore, for the total of £180, you can take care of the legalities prior to your celebrant-led ceremony on your wedding day.

If your local register office doesn't have a huge availability of 2 plus 2 ceremonies, you can book your ceremony at a register office anywhere in England and Wales. Sometimes, councils are not too forthcoming about the basic ceremonies. Sometimes, the all of the 2 plus 2 ceremonies get booked up. One of my couples gave notice in Bristol then went to Taunton for the legal ceremony before having their wedding at a venue in South Wales..

You can ask two of your best friends or family members (siblings, parents, aunts, uncles) to bear witness. This can be anybody who has the capacity to understand what the legalities entail. Some services will allow children over the age of 13 to be a witness as long as they are able to fully understand the role they are taking in the ceremony.

Your witnesses must be able to speak and understand English in order to fulfil their role. If the marriage was challenged or deemed illegitimate / never happened, the witnesses need to be able to stand up in a court of law and say that they heard those vows spoken and that they witnessed the couple make those vows. When the witnesses sign the schedule, this is what they are signing to say that they witnessed and understood what the couple were saying to one another.

During this very intimate ceremony, you will enter into the verbal marriage contract all legal weddings feature. You will state the declaratory words and the contracting words (see below). You don’t technically make any vows so you can save this along with the ring exchange for your celebrant-led ceremony. A ring exchange is not a statutory part of the legal marriage ceremony.

You will get a choice of which wording you’d like to use from a selection of three for each. The registrar will add some lovely wording around the ceremony but this will be a standard script used for all couples. You can also exchange rings if you wish but this is optional in all legal marriage ceremonies.

Declaration of freedom wording:

Option 1:

• I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I… may not be joined in matrimony to…

Option 2:

• I declare that I know of no legal reason why I… many not be joined in marriage to…

Option 3:

• Are you… free lawfully to marry…
• State “I am.” if you agree.

Contract of marriage wording:

Option 1:

• I call upon these persons here present to witness that I… do take thee… to be my lawful wedded husband / wife.

Option 2:

• I… take you… to be my wedded husband / wife.

Option 3:

• I… take thee… to be my wedded husband / wife.

Following this, you will sign the marriage schedule. This allows your marriage to be registered.

You need to take into consideration that 2 plus 2 ceremonies are only available from Monday to Friday.

It is highly recommended that couples take care of the legal elements before their celebrant-led wedding. A registrar will ask you if you have ever been through any form of marriage or civil partnership before in this or any other country. If you have the celebrant-led ceremony before the legal marriage, you are in a grey area. A celebrant-led wedding ceremony is a form of ceremony so it is best to take care of the legals in advance of your wedding day celebration.

If either parties are not UK citizens then the couple will need to give notice involving the Home Office and this increases the statutory notice fee for that party to £57.

For the registrar to come out to your licensed venue, the cost varies depending upon which day of the week it is, with weekends and bank holidays costing slightly more. Costs vary between £400 and £800 plus depending upon these factors. There is no personalisation and the ceremony is performed from a standard script. You will also meet your registrar on the day and won’t have had the opportunity to build a relationship with them.

If either of the couple is late for the registrar-led ceremony, the registrar may have to leave to perform their next marriage ceremony before you arrive. When you book me, I am exclusively yours; I will not leave if either of you are late.

Prices can vary from county to county so it is best to do your research.

It is actually quite a simple process which will allow you both to go on and have the wedding ceremony you want to have with all of the bespoke elements a celebrant can deliver.

I’m Sam, I create modern, bright and inclusive wedding ceremonies for couples who want their story told with authenticity and warmth. I am a celebrant based in Bristol and I am always happy to travel to your celebration. If you would like to discuss your celebrant-led wedding ceremony, please do get in touch.