Your ceremony day
About your ceremony
This information will help you understand what happens at your marriage or civil partnership ceremony, including:
- legal requirements
- timings and order of ceremony
- how you can personalise it
If you have already booked, you can complete the personalise your ceremony form. You can find it at the bottom of this page. Make sure you read and understand the ceremony terms and conditions.
Legal requirements
Pre-ceremony interview
A registrar must interview you before your ceremony. They will check the information you shared at your giving notice appointment. You do not need to bring any documents with you.
Your ceremony starts at the time you have booked. At most venues, you must arrive early for the pre-ceremony interview. You can find more detail in the timings and order of ceremony section below.
Witnesses
You must bring 2 witnesses to your ceremony. They sign the legal documents for your marriage or civil partnership.
Your witnesses must be:
- old enough to understand the purpose of the ceremony
- able to understand English
We cannot provide witnesses for you.
If you don't speak or understand English
You must provide an interpreter. Your interpreter will need to:
- attend the ceremony with you
- be one of your witnesses
Vows or declaration
Some of the words you say in your ceremony are a legal requirement. What you need to say depends on the type of ceremony you are having.
If you are getting married
There are 2 parts that you must say:
- a declaration that you are allowed to get married
- 'contracting words' that make the marriage legal
Your registrar will ask each of you to repeat your vows in turn.
You can choose from 3 different ways to say them. See vows and promises options in the personalise your ceremony section below.
If you're having a civil partnership
You will read a declaration either out loud or quietly, to yourself. The wording is:
"I declare that I know of no legal reason why we may not register as each other's civil partner. I understand that on signing this document we will be forming a civil partnership with each other."
Adding your own words
No matter which ceremony you have, you can add your own promises or vows. Find out more in the personalise your ceremony section below.
Signing the legal documents
At the end of your ceremony, you, your witnesses and the registrars will sign the legal document for your marriage or civil partnership. This is known as the schedule.
You must check that all information on the schedule is correct before you sign it.
If you want to make changes after signing the schedule, you need to apply. You will have to pay a fee of £90 and pay for new certificates.
Certificates
Find out more about how we issue and charge for certificates.
Timings and order of ceremony
Find information about when to arrive for your interview and the ceremony order for your venue below.
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You must arrive for your pre-ceremony interview 10 minutes before your booked ceremony time. For example, if your ceremony booking is at 2pm you must arrive at 1.50pm.
Your ceremony will start promptly at the time you have booked.
Find more information about the venue on our West Sussex Register Office page.
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You must arrive at the time of your booking.
Find further information about the venue on our Small Ceremony Room, Worthing page.
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For all other West Sussex ceremony rooms, your ceremony will take place as follows:
Pre-ceremony interview
You must be ready for your pre-ceremony interview 20 minutes before your booked ceremony start time. For example, if your ceremony booking is at 2pm, you must arrive for your pre-ceremony interview at 1.40pm.
We know some couples prefer not to see each other before the ceremony. Registrars can carry out the pre-ceremony interview with you separately - one of you 20 minutes before, the other 10 minutes before. Let us know you if want this so that we can arrange it for you.
Making an entrance
If you would like, one or both of you can make an entrance into the ceremony room. You can do this together or separately. A friend or family member can also accompany you.
Order of ceremony
The registrar will include the options from your personalise your ceremony form in the order below:
- registrars welcome
- reading 1 (optional)
- choice of legal wording
- exchange of rings
- additional promises (optional)
- reading 2 (optional)
- signing of the schedule by the couple, witnesses and registrars
- presentation of commemorative certificate
- conclusion
More information
Find more information about the venue on the relevant page for your booked ceremony room.
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Our registrars will arrive at your venue about 45 minutes before the booked time of your ceremony.
Pre-ceremony interview
You must be ready for your pre-ceremony interview 20 minutes before your booked ceremony start time. For example, if your ceremony booking is at 2pm, you must be ready for your pre-ceremony interview at 1.40pm.
We know some couples prefer not to see each other before the ceremony. Registrars can carry out the pre-ceremony interview with you separately - one of you 20 minutes before, the other 10 minutes before. Let us know you if want this so that we can arrange it for you.
Making an entrance
If you would like, one or both of you can make an entrance into the ceremony room. You can do this together or separately. A friend or family member can also accompany you.
Order of ceremony
The registrar will include the options from your personalise your ceremony form within the order below:
- registrars welcome
- reading 1 (optional)
- choice of legal wording
- exchange of rings
- additional promises (optional)
- reading 2 (optional)
- signing of the schedule by the couple, witnesses and registrars
- presentation of commemorative certificate
- conclusion
Find more information about licensed venues.
Personalise your ceremony
Vows and promises
Find information about the legal requirements above. For marriages, you can see your choices of declaration and contractual words that you must say in the document below.
You may want to include your own vows or promises in your marriage or civil partnership ceremony. Your words must not have any religious content.
Find some suggestions in the document below.
Music
You can play music during your ceremony when you are:
- making an entrance
- signing the schedule
- leaving your ceremony
Your cannot use music with religious content.
Readings
You can use readings to personalise your ceremony. Your family or friends can read them for you. To see when readings happen in your ceremony, look at the order of ceremony for your venue above.
Readings can be your own choice, but must not include anything religious. You can also use one of our suggested readings from the document below.
Personalise your ceremony form
To let us know your preferences, complete our form.
You must book your ceremony before you complete your personalise your ceremony form.
You will receive a copy of your completed form to keep. We will review your choices to make sure they are appropriate for your ceremony.
A registrar will contact you one or two days before the ceremony to introduce themselves, answer any questions, and confirm your preferences.