You don’t have to hire a registrar at a licenced wedding venue for your wedding ceremony.
Your wedding ceremony options are rarely explained to you at wedding venues, especially those that are licensed for registrars to attend. Why you shouldn’t believe that you have to book a registrar at a licenced wedding venue is an essential fact to help you understand how you can ensure choice in your wedding ceremony.
The only consideration that you need to have when considering your wedding ceremony options at your venue is listed directly below:
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A registrar will come out ( at an additional cost) to a licenced wedding venue and will be able to marry you, in law, at your wedding venue.
A Celebrant will create and officiate your wedding ceremony at your licenced wedding venue, but you will need to go to the local council offices to have your marriage legally recognised. This is incredibly easy and cheap and how to do so can be found here
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https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/give-notice
Unless you already plan to have your ceremony in an unlicenced wedding venue, in which case you will undoubtedly already have explored the option of having a wedding celebrant, the chances are that you have a shortlist of wedding venues and they will be licenced for wedding ceremonies.
Coombe Lodge in Somerset – Licenced wedding venue loving celebrants😘🥂
Newsflash! Just because the venue is licenced it doesn’t mean that you don’t have wedding ceremony options!
Wedding venues are wonderful places and there is nothing more fabulous than that feeling when you find ‘the one’ you know is perfect for you both. The chances are that you will have made one point of contact with the venue in your communication, the wedding co-ordinator, and despite everything else being totally in line with your vision and values, they then bring up their trump card. Which is, the venue is licenced and the registrar can marry you there on your wedding day! They will tell you that this is a brilliant reason to choose them for your wedding day!
Put boldly I can reassure you that this is most definitely not true and you have the choice to choose a celebrant. In fact here are some really rather great reasons why you would want to do that 🥂 Have a look at this article I wrote about it 10 great reasons why you should book a celebrant for your wedding ceremony
Why many wedding venues got a licence in the first place
Traditionally and historically if you were getting married in the UK, you had your ceremony in a place of worship ( and even this is limited in todays multi cultural society) or at the registrar’s office, which was, and still is, a council owned building and then went onto your reception. There was no other choice which obviously excluded a large majority of the population.
Yet change started to happen towards the end of the twentieth century as hotels and larger country house venues sought to offer more choice to couples wishing to get married. They purchased wedding licences at a cost, from their local government authority enabling the local registrar to come to them, rather than the couples go to the local council office.
The registrars also benefited as they could then, and still do, charge a much higher fee to come out to the venue on the day. The fee for their services, which is at the higher end of the scale, plus a ‘call out fee’. Double money for a standard service with somebody you will never have met before and who will be rushing onto the next wedding venue. Sounds rather icky and flat doesn’t it?
This model worked for a while as celebrants hadn’t become recognised or trained within the UK. Unlike Australia, the United States and elsewhere there simply wasn’t any other choice for wedding ceremony options. It was the most radical change in where you could get married legally since the 1840s, but not how or who by if you wanted more options with your wedding ceremony! Hold that thought!
The only real difference is the legal paperwork which at the moment only registrars can carry out legally at a licenced venue. Yet this is so easy to circumnavigate just by seeing that the legal paperwork required in law is just that, paperwork, and it doesn’t have to be something you sign at your wedding venue on your wedding day.
What sort of venues are now getting licenced?
All sorts of venues are now getting a wedding licence, from your local pub, to theatres, clubs, purpose built wedding venues….it seems there is no limit on where you can hold your wedding ceremony now, which is undoubtedly a brilliant way forward. As a celebrant I have officiated at weddings in an old art deco theatre, a converted mill, a room in an eighteenth century pub and many wonderful old historical manor houses.
The pandemic also saw venues and wedding suppliers looking for alternative options in order to enhance their unique offerings to potential couples. Seeing the opening up of outdoor spaces and unusual locations within the venue, many building with a hospitality licence or even just a great space choose to go down the road of getting a licence from their local authority Here is a link to show you just what venues need to do
No wonder then that having completed such costly and arduous paperwork, many venues see the council approved registrars, who incidentally come from the same office they were granted their licence, are the only option to offer their couples. And why shouldn’t they think that as ultimately they want their wedding couples to be happy.
So why exactly is my venue not telling me about our choices?
Why wedding venues are not telling couples about their wedding ceremony options is difficult to ascertain and not a reflection on them or their wedding teams and owners. They simply want what is best for their wedding couples. Yet, it is essential to realise that you can have a choice on how you want to hold your ceremony and where. With the correct knowledge you can go to any wedding venue and tell them that you are planning to have a celebrant led ceremony, even if they tell you otherwise as they offer up the registrar option (as they are licenced).
The reasons to offer registrar led ceremonies are commonplace for licenced venues and you may hear the following reasons when you enquire about your wedding ceremony options.
- We have a licence and we always use these registrars. They know us.
- We have never had a celebrant / what is a celebrant?
- You can have your ceremony anywhere at our venue now, outside or inside.
- It’s easier, you can have the whole day in one go.
- All our other couples use the registrars as we are licenced.
- Being licenced for marriages give you choice!
Answering and explaining the above 6 points to give you more choice in your wedding ceremony
Honestly, just because the venue has a licence for registrars and they know the venue well, it does not ever mean that you have to choose this option! A registrar’s role is to provide the framework for legal signing of your marriage paperwork. There are legal set words to comply with, formulaic and necessary. It’s stuffy, and frankly dull and you can do this before your wedding day, quickly and cost effectively in the local council office. Rather like registering a birth or death. Or even a car.
If your wedding venue really doesn’t know who or what a wedding celebrant is, then either myself (yes please Contact Me here!) or your chosen celebrant will happily go along to explain all the benefits to them. Celebrants are familiar and used to explaining to venues how wedding ceremony options are enhanced with a celebrant ceremony and we are really happy to share our enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise. I promise you that they are always happy to know they can offer you, their couples a choice once they know what it can be”
See answer above, choice is about who does your ceremony and how. Never where!
Juliette holding a celebrant wedding ceremony in a licenced wedding venue
It really is just as easy to have your legal signing on another day, leaving you free to enjoy your wedding ceremony with a celebrant on your wedding day. No separate interviews before the service, no bored guests, no hurrying up to get it done and on with the canapes!
Just because other couples haven’t used a celebrant at the venue, doesn’t mean you can’t! Break the mould, be you, be unique and go for the wedding ceremony option of your choice, a wedding celebrant!
Even if your venue is licenced it doesn’t mean that you don’t have any choice with the options for your wedding ceremony. You can love the venue with your heart and soul, but still choose not to have a registrar but rather a celebrant! 7 Awesome questions to ask your wedding celebrant before you book
The only difference with your wedding ceremony options at your dream licenced venue is whether or not you think you want to do the legal paperwork for your marriage on the same day at your venue. If you would rather have a bespoke, unique, personalised wedding ceremony – book a celebrant!