Personalise your ceremony

Ceremony choices

COVID-19 update: For the latest information, make sure you read our page regarding ceremony restrictions during the pandemic.

Please complete your ceremony choices below if you are getting married or entering a civil partnership in an approved licensed venue or in a ceremony room. This helps us understand how you plan to personalise your ceremony.

Wi-Fi is available in all council owned rooms but we cannot guarantee the reliability of the connection. If you are planning on live streaming your ceremony, you may wish to use a hot spot.

Ceremony vows and sample readings

Here are a selection of vows and sample readings for your marriage or civil partnership ceremony.

Information and guidance on your ceremony

For guidance and updates about how COVID-19 is affecting ceremonies, see the latest information on Ceremony restrictions during the pandemic.

Numbers of guests in our ceremony rooms

Who counts as a guest? All those you invite, such as:

guests
witnesses
any other person you invite to be present (including children of any age, or those employed by you, such as a photographer).

Registration officials are not counted in these numbers.

Certificates

Certificates will be posted in the week following the ceremony after the registrar has completed the legal formalities. This takes up to 10 days.

What will happen at the ceremony (order of ceremony)

We cannot guarantee a particular registrar for your ceremony and would advise against printing an order of ceremony with any registrar’s name included.

The order of ceremony below should be used simply as a guideline. Individual registrars may do things in a slightly different order.

The marriage ceremony will consist of:

registrar’s welcome
reading (optional)
the couple repeating declaratory and contracting words after the registrar
exchange of rings (optional)
additional promises (optional)
reading (optional)
signing of legal documents by couple, witnesses and registrars
conclusion.

The civil partnership signing/ceremony will consist of:

registrar’s welcome
the couple reading the legal declaration (reading aloud is optional)
signing of legal documents by couple, witnesses and registrar
reading (optional)
making formal promises to each other (optional)
exchanging rings (optional)
conclusion.

What happens next

Once we receive your choices form it will be sent to your celebrant registrar a few weeks before your ceremony to give them time to prepare. They will be in touch with you a day or two before your ceremony to introduce themselves and answer any last minute questions you may have. If you have questions or issues in the meantime please contact the ceremonies team who will be happy to help.

Please note, the registrars will need to speak to both of you to confirm the details you gave at notice, before your ceremony can begin on the day. If you are intending to arrive separately on the day, please arrive roughly 30 minutes and 15 minutes before your ceremony start time.

How to make your ceremony special to you.