Series: Celebrant or Registrar? Introduction

This is obviously a biased perspective. I am a Celebrant after all, but even if I weren’t, to me, and to the thousands of couples who decide upon a Celebrant-led ceremony, it is a no brainer. At this time, Celebrants cannot marry you ‘in-law’ (although there is an energetic campaign underway to change this) and regardless of this the number one choice for marrying couples last year in Britain was with an Independent Celebrant. People are catching on that the ceremony no longer needs to be the formal bit at the beginning of the day, but it is the start to your festivities, the joyful launch to your celebration, starting your day in a way that is best fitting of you and your chosen life partner and lifts all of your guests to rejoice in your union.

I am by no means criticising our registrar colleagues, they do a tough job. There are some who care, enjoy supporting couples and their knowledge of the law is their specialism - most of them do it well. Nor am I ‘dissing’ couples who choose to take the registrar route, my intention here is to empower choice and if people are making an informed choice then my job here is done.

There are many reasons why Celebrants are now the number one choice. These are in the main what I have heard couples say and why I think we are on the rise:

1. Celebrants focus on your union and all that it means to you both, not the law

2. You get to choose your Celebrant, with a registrar you get whoever is available on the day

3. Greater creative freedom is available with a Celebrant, the ceremonies I craft are personalised and immersive. With a registrar they read the same script for all couples

4. Cost is often a surprising factor why couples choose a Celebrant, we are often competitive and you get a lot more sparkle for your money

5. You can see your day through, to your chosen schedule, in your way

6. Registrars are no longer the natural ‘go-to’, trend or assumption - the times they are a changing!

I am able to go on about this for days, so I have broken what was an essay down into separate posts, you’re welcome to read them all or dip in and out of what fits with your interest area in my next posts.