Why are so many couples wedded to a registrar?

The Law Commission is currently considering a reformed law for weddings that will allow couples greater choice within a simple, fair and consistent legal structure, so that people can have a wedding that’s meaningful to them. Proposals to reform the law governing how and where couples can get married closed on 4 January 2021, with an aim to publish the final report with recommendations for Government in July 2022.

In the meantime as a celebrant I am unable to legally marry couples and want to share the options available to couples until, hopefully we see a change in the Law.

Although a registrar can perform the legalities the choices for the couple are limited in terms of the ceremony, and by that I mean the vows they can make to each other, the words they use when they exchange rings and the content of the ceremony in terms of music, poems, readings or anything that will differentiate their wedding and make it personal.

Having a registrar come to a wedding venue for a quick ‘tick the boxes’ service can work out just as much as having ‘The Legal Paperwork’ , with two witnesses, completed at the register office in 6 minutes and having a celebrant deliver a beautifully bespoke ceremony at a venue chosen by the couple.

You could choose to have your ceremony in a smart hotel, a woodland setting, on the beach or in your garden. There are no limits! You can choose the words you say, opt to bring in elements from your heritages and traditions. There will never be another ceremony like yours.

Many of my couples don’t celebrate their wedding anniversary on the date that they completed the paperwork but choose to celebrate the day when the words that they chose were a meaningful and memorable reflection of what getting married meant to them.
Imagine being able to look back at the unique words that were said at the same time you looked at your treasured photographs?

Whilst I appreciate that for some couples the sentiment of a wedding day is closely related to the legality, what wonderful options would be open to them if they separated the two?