Why use and How choose a Wedding Celebrant?
Choosing the right celebrant is very important, people remember how you made them feel. So you and your guests want a Celebrant who makes you feel amazing because they have created a very special ceremony for you. You need to choose a Celebrant who you feel a genuine connection with, you’ll need to feel comfortable with them and feel confident that they can create and perform the ceremony as you would expect.
Part of planning a wedding, is about finding the perfect person to conduct your ceremony and you may be wondering how to go about it? after all, that’s the most important part of the day!
It’s not too long ago that couples were restricted when it came to choosing an officiant, they could either go down the religious path, and be married by a church minister or similar or the non-religious path at a registry office.
Now, this has changed and there is far more choices out there! There are not only the traditional ways, but now there are the Humanist and Independent Civil Celebrants Officiants too.
In this article I’ll inform of the key differences between the types of officiants
Registrars
Registrars are employed by their local council and work within set guidelines set out by the Government for civil wedding ceremonies. Keep in mind that they are restricted by law about where and when they can conduct their ceremonies, either at their offices or in a venue that is licensed and they cannot work outdoors in certain weather conditions.
The advantage by choosing a registrar is that you can complete the legal part of your marriage within the ceremony by signing the official register. The disadvantage are, that you won’t meet the person until a few minutes before the ceremony, and they use a standard script meaning you freedom of choice is very limited. You won’t be allowed to include any content that’s related to religion, such as hymns, Bible references, and sometimes even songs that indirectly refer to religion.
Humanist Celebrants
Humanist celebrants: These will provide more freedom of choice than registrars, so your ceremony can be personalised and held at any time and in any place you choose. Humanist celebrants provide a very similar service to Independent Civil Celebrants, but operate within the humanism belief system and work within the guidelines set by Humanists UK.
Humanist celebrants will specify that no ‘act of worship’ can be carried out during a ceremony, but religious or spiritual references (e.g. in readings and music) may be welcomed if they were important to the couple. In England and Wales, humanist celebrants cannot complete the legal formalities, so that must be done separately at the register office. However, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, humanist celebrants can conduct legally binding weddings if given permission by the Registrar General of Scotland.
THEN THERE ARE US
Independent Civil Celebrants. We provide so much more freedom of choice than registrars, so your ceremony can be fully personalised and held at any time, any place. Independent Civil Celebrants can also welcome a wider group of couples with any beliefs or none.
As an Independent Civil Celebrant, I am able to include any elements of religion or spirituality and acknowledge and celebrate cultures, heritage and family traditions too. However, we as Independent Civil Celebrants cannot currently complete the legal formalities, so that must be done separately at the register office
However, in Scotland some Independent Civil Celebrants can conduct legally binding weddings if they are given permission by the Registrar General of Scotland.
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