Frequently Asked Questions

A celebrant is the person who writes and delivers your ceremony. That's it. No script handed down from on high, no restrictions on what you can say or include, no rules about your venue. Just a ceremony designed entirely around the two of you.

A registrar is a government employee who does the legal paperwork at licensed venues, using a script with limited room for personalisation. A celebrant is a private professional you hire to create a fully bespoke ceremony, anywhere you like, with whatever content you want. Many of my couples use both: registrar for the legal bit, celebrant for the actual wedding.

In England and Wales, no. We're working on getting the law changed but we're not there yet. The workaround is simple though. You'll pop into your local register office a few days before your celebrant ceremony, sign the paperwork in around 5 minutes with 2 witnesses, and pay roughly 60 pounds (in Norfolk). Job done. The celebrant ceremony with me is then the real wedding.

Because a registrar reads from a fixed script in a licensed venue and isn't allowed to include anything religious, spiritual, or particularly personal. A celebrant ceremony can be in a woodland, on a beach, in your back garden, themed, multicultural, faith-blended, LGBTQ+ affirming, with your dog as ring bearer, and full of words written specifically about the two of you. Different products, different jobs. Depending on the day prices for a registrar in Norfolk go up to £825 (2027 prices pending on the date and venue).