Series: Celebrant or Registrar? 4. With a Celebrant you get a heck of a lot more bang for your buck!

Many of us must consider the outlay for our wedding day, the cost of living crisis is dreary right?! People are often surprised that a Celebrant can be the cheaper option, depending on your register office offer and of course the independent Celebrant fees. In my area, at the time of writing this, for a registrar to attend an approved venue is £750 on a Friday or Saturday day time added to that are admin and notice fees. The register office also offer ‘commitment ceremonies’ (that are not legally binding) for £600 at an approved venue on a Friday or Saturday day time. Anything out of standard hours, i.e. an evening wedding or a bank holiday, the cost increases. My current base price is £600, this includes a great deal more personalisation and commitment to my couples. I even offer an anniversary refresh, on or around your first anniversary, a chance to revisit your promises, to reflect and deepen your understanding of each other and enrich your union even further. I have also heard about some Councils offering to attend unapproved venues. The benefit of this is that a couple can choose their specific spot for saying ‘I do’ and not be bound by bureaucratic licencing terms, for this though they are insisting that a costly risk assessment be performed prior to the event. Some venues are getting smart to this and choosing to offer wedding packages, recommending Celebrant led ceremonies, and not bothering to apply for a licence which is a large expense (which then doesn’t need to be rolled into the price to their customers) and a grand hoop jumping process for them - they can then focus on what is important to them, offering the best experience to their couples without council led stipulations being a factor.