The short answer to this, in England, in Feb 2023 is no. In Scotland, it can be done legally by a humanist celebrant, but not an independent celebrant. But in the UK it can’t be done legally by either. This blog is going to have a quick look at when it might be legal, and how to get around the legalities of the situation
Celebrants offer non-legal services, what does this mean?
In England and Wales as of Feb 2023, celebrant-led weddings are not legal….but this isn’t perhaps the negative you might see it as. You have to get the legal signing of the documents done at a register office, so a celebrant wedding or civil partnership can actually happen afterwards. The fact that it isn’t legal shouldn’t put you off, more so, it should make you question what you think a wedding, or civil partnership ceremony actually is.
In a registry office wedding or civil partnership, the legal aspects include the signing of the official register, and the wording. The wording, in being a legal requirement has very little flexibility to it, and so your ceremony will sound like… everyone else’s. The location of the wedding is also dictated to by the law and so it must be done in a registry office, or a religious building, or a licensed venue, in the space that is licensed to do the wedding. You might be thinking that those don’t sound like big restrictions, but hear me out.
What is the perfect setting for a ceremony?
When you think of the most idyllic wedding or civil partnership scenario, perhaps you think about a wooded area, the beach, on a canal boat, up a mountain, at a music festival, at a football ground, or even in your parent’s back garden.
Or do you think about famous ceremonies from TV and film, like Phoebe and Mike’s wedding in Friends on the street, or Howard and Bernadette getting married on a rooftop in The Big Bang. Would it surprise you to know that all of the scenarios I’ve just described would not have been legal in the UK. This is because at the moment, legal weddings and civil partnerships are location based, so you have to be in a registered building or space to be married by an official person. There is a paper with the government right now which is trying to change this, and by the time you see this video, fingers crossed, weddings and civil partnerships will switch to a system not based on location, but on the person conducting the ceremony. This will mean it can happen anywhere, legally.
So what really is 'the wedding'?
I bring you back to the original idea, what really is a wedding or civil partnership? I don’t see it as the part when you sign the register, or when you say statements that you legally have to. I see it as the moment you exchange rings, the moment your friends and family throw confetti as you walk down the aisle, the moment you read your own vows to each other, the moment you tie your hands together in a hand fasting ritual. All of this and more can be done wherever you want, with whatever wording you want, with a celebrant.
Wouldn't it be easier to just hire a registrar?
I guess it would, but what would you be missing out on? Rather than paying a registrar, who you’ve never met around anywhere from £400-£800 to come to a venue and deliver a generic service, instead, why not pay just £90 to go to a registry office, and sign the papers and do a very short ceremony. This is classed as a 2 plus 2 ceremony, and only takes about 20 minutes. Why not just add this legal part to the list of formalities, giving you the ultimate freedom for your real celebration. You can only take 2 people in with you to this service, so just take friends or random people off the street to be your witnesses. Don’t do rings, don’t do the kiss, the confetti, or personalise the vows. Do the shortest statements and service possible, and save your money. Then use this money to hire a celebrant instead, and do the ceremony exactly how and where you want it.
What will be our anniversary date?
Sure, the 2 plus 2 ceremony is the ‘official’ wedding or civil partnership, I get that. But the ceremony with all your friends and family, with the rings, the vows, the kiss, the first dance, the meal, the DJ, that’s your real wedding or civil partnership isn’t it? It’s just about shift the way you see the formalities.
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