Why choose a Celebrant? As a Celebrant, I get asked this question a lot! So here I break down the differences between a standard registrar ceremony, and one with an independent celebrant.
When you’re planning a wedding, the number of decisions you have to make can be overwhelming. Unless you have a background in events planning, you may never have planned a celebration on this scale before, so what kind of catering, flowers, photography etc that you want might currently be a mystery, let alone what the average costs for these services are!
“The best ceremony I’ve been to”
Throughout your wedding planning, you might see the ceremony as the most basic element of your day – just a 20 minute service that ticks off the legal aspect of your marriage, then you and your guests can go and have some fun. But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be this way? Think for a second about all the weddings you have been to, what do you remember the most? For me, a wedding was always most memorable for the disco, the food, the games, and looking back, I can’t really remember the wedding ceremony itself. Which is such a shame! This changed when I went to my first celebrant-led ceremony back in 2021. Things were just starting to open up and it was the first wedding I had been to since my own. It was seriously the best ceremony I’ve been to: personalised, thoughtful, captured my shy and creative friend perfectly and it has stuck in my memory since. After all, a wedding can just be a great big party for all the people you love the most, and that is absolutely what works for some people. However, if you want your wedding day to feature the telling of your love story, then a celebrant-led service may be right up your street. I’m going to break down the differences between a standard registrar ceremony, and one with a celebrant.
- Length – A standard registrar-led ceremony will always be approximately 20 minutes long. Registrars usually do at least 2 weddings a day so they will not be able to arrive early, or stick around. This means you are restricted in the content you can use, which leads me to…
- Content – With a celebrant, you can include whatever you like in your ceremony, and I mean whatever you like! Symbolic elements, religious elements, singalongs, alcohol, you name it! The freedom is yours, and so if you and your partner come from a mixture of cultures, it is so much easier to include a variety of elements that includes everyone. As you’re not restricted by length, no one will be worried about running over time, and the ceremony will be so much more relaxed.
- The personal touch – When I got married, I met the registrar and celebrant on the day, and they did a fine job conducting the ceremony; however when my friend had her celebrant-led ceremony, she met her celebrant a year previous. The celebrant got to know my friend and it meant that the ceremony was her and her partner in a nutshell. With a Blissberry ceremony, I will get to know you and your love story and write a completely bespoke ceremony around it – perfect for your special day.
- The legal stuff – A celebrant-led ceremony is not legally binding. This means you would need to do the legally binding parts of your marriage at a town hall or registry office in addition to your ceremony. However, this will only cost you around £50-£70, depending on where you live (just make sure you ask for the basic ceremony, it isn’t always advertised!). Then, the rest of your ceremony can be however you want it to be, you can include alcohol (a no-no in a standard ceremony), a hymn or a prayer – basically you have the freedom to tell your love story how it deserves to be told!
- Cost – You may be thinking this is a no-brainer. A registrar ceremony will cost you around £200-£300, depending on where you go, and a celebrant-led ceremony is more around the £600 mark. However, think about the adage ‘You Get What You Pay For’ – for ceremonies this couldn’t be more true. The level of service you get is so much more, and this will be something you will always remember. Also, don’t forget a celebrant-led ceremony can take place anywhere, including your back garden! You could save loads on suppliers, especially if you want a small and intimate ceremony. Ultimately, it’s your decision and about what you want from your day. If you want to have a chat about what a Blissberry ceremony can mean for you, feel free to drop me a line and we can have a no-obligation chat about it. Email at hello@blissberryceremonies.co.uk, call on 07851917930, or fill out the contact form on my website.
