Celebrant Vs Registrar

This question is being asked more frequently now when it comes to booking your ceremony and deciding on who you should get to orchestrate your wedding day. So keep reading for information surrounding the differences between the two, some pros and negatives, and some slightly bias opinions. It may just help you to figure out which is the best choice for you. Please bear in mind, these are all the thoughts and opinions of TWLC, all of the comparisons below are based on getting married at a venue outside of a church or registry office.

Registrars tend to be a lot more regimented and you really can’t afford to be the ‘fashionably late’ bride, as registrars usually have 3, 4, maybe 5 weddings in one day, and they can sometimes threaten to leave if you’re going to be eating into their schedule for the day, so when booking a registrar just bare this in mind. Registrars are perhaps a more traditional or low-key option. As far as I am aware, you are able to choose from number of scripts, a 10 minute one, 20 minute one, 30 minute one. So if you’re a couple who is absolutely dreading standing in front of friends and family and having to say a bunch of things, with all eyes on you - then maybe a shorter registrar service may be for you. A slight negative of this, is that a registrar service can feel impersonal, especially when comparing them to a celebrant, as the registrars don’t really know you at all before your ceremony, as opposed to a celebrant who takes the time to get to know you as a couple. One pro of a registrar (especially in England) is that they can conduct legally binding marriage and civil partnership ceremonies at any building or space that is licensed for civil weddings.

A wedding celebrant is a professionally trained and fully insured officiant, with the skills and experience in place to create completely bespoke and personalised ceremonies, where they will get to know your love story in order to create the perfect, most memorable and unique ceremony for you. You will be able to include any symbolic gestures or medieval traditions such as hand fasting, ring warming and unity candles - there really is no limit, only your imagination. Sadly, celebrants in England and Wales cannot legally marry you on your wedding day, the official legal documentation would have to be signed either before or after the wedding day at your local registry office - however, in Scotland, a humanist celebrant IS able to legally marry you there and then, and fingers crossed this transpires into England very soon! A celebrant can conduct your ceremony in your back garden, or on top of a mountain, once again, there are no restrictions when it comes to a celebrant wedding.