Step 6: On your special day

Before the ceremony

Your registrars for your ceremony will arrive at least 30 minutes before your ceremony is due to start. 

Before your ceremony takes place, you and your partner will each have an interview to run through your legal paperwork. The interviews can take place separately, so you don’t see each other until the ceremony. You also have a choice of being interviewed together.

If you are being seen separately, we will interview the first person 20 minutes before the ceremony. Once this interview has happened, you will go into the ceremony room with your guests. We then start the second interview 10 minutes before the ceremony is due to start. If you are walking down the aisle, we will interview you second.

If you are being seen together, we will interview you 15 minutes before the ceremony is due to start.

At this stage, we will give you a run through the structure of your ceremony. We will check with you to make sure you are happy with what is included. If there are any last-minute changes, for example you are having a different reader, our Registrar will check this with you. This is to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

While you are having your interview, our other Registrar will be doing all the final checks for the ceremony. They will speak anyone involved in the ceremony to make sure they know what they need to do. This will be people such as readers, ring holders and photographers.

Witnesses

You will need to select 2 witnesses for your ceremony.  These can be friends or relatives but they must be able to speak and understand English. They will need to understand the legalities so we suggest that they are aged 16 or over.  They will need to be able to hear all that is being said during the ceremony, so we suggest that they are seated in the front few rows- especially during an outdoor ceremony! They should not be supervising young children or in charge of taking photographs.

Signing the Schedule

Once your ceremony has finished, our Registrar will bring the legal paperwork for you to check and sign. You will need to check all the details on the Schedule, and you will be given the opportunity to make any changes. Please be advised that once the Schedule is signed then any changes requested by you, including corrections to the spelling of names, will incur a statutory fee.

Certificates

Once your ceremony has taken place, your marriage will be registered on the system. We will then send out the pre-paid certificate(s) to you in the post. Please allow up to 15 working days for the certificates to be with you. If you would like to order any additional marriage certificates, this can be done over the phone or through our Certificate Applications page. Certificates are £12.50 each.