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Would you like a Celebrant led wedding ceremony? Learn here how to combine it with the legal marriage conducted by the registrar. It’s all very simple really, you have your wedding at a later date! Intrigued? Confused maybe? Read on and I will explain all.
Choosing the Registrar’s 2+2 basic ceremony, combined with a Celebrant led wedding ceremony gives you flexibility and ultimately allows you to have the wedding you have dreamed of. Likewise, it enables you to take back some control of your wedding planning.
The “no frills’ 2+2 wedding ceremonies are the most basic form of ceremony offered by the registration services. They are cheap, quick and convenient.
By combining the legal marriage, with a Celebrant led wedding ceremony, you are giving yourself time, flexibility and ultimately control of your venue and special day. Read on…
Difficult Circumstances
Sometimes, couples need to tie the knot quickly and simply, without all the fuss of a big wedding.
A close relative may be unwell, making time of the essence. Finances could be tight, making a lavish celebration feel out of reach. Or maybe an unexpected event, like the recent pandemic, has thrown your plans into chaos.
That’s where a 2+2 wedding by a Registrar can be the perfect solution. It’s intimate, straightforward, and stress-free—just the couple, two witnesses, and a heartfelt ceremony.
In short, it gives you the practicalities without the fuss. In addition to this however, as indicated earlier, it also gives you flexibility, time and more options to plan for your wedding ceremony at a later date and at your preferred venue or elsewhere.
What is the 2+2 ceremony?
A “2+2” ceremony or “basic” ceremony is short and only includes the legal elements needed to perform a marriage. The only people to attend will be you both, your two witnesses and the registrars. It is the cheapest and shortest option available.
It only includes a declaration, contracting words and an optional ring vow, chosen from a short standard selection and is available at selected registry offices. It takes place in a small private office. However, most importantly, it means you are legally married, which leaves you the opportunity to then have a wedding with no t’s to cross and i’s to be dotted!
I want to have our wedding at our dream venue
To be legally married at a selected venue, the venue must hold a license. This can make it difficult if you have visions of a woodland wedding or a wedding at a special location to you both. If you cannot find a licensed venue that matches your concept you may feel disappointed. Likewise, you may have a perfect, licensed wedding venue in mind, but cannot get the registrar because they are fully booked. Well, after all, there are a limited number of Saturday’s in the year (that being the most popular day to wed).
However, if you were to scale back your legal ceremony to the simple 2+2, which can be held midweek at any mutually convenient time, when Registrars are more readily available; it would undoubtedly alleviate the pressures on them and open up a whole world of venue opportunities. At a later date, you can hold your larger wedding ceremony at your preferred venue. This can be a Celebrant led wedding ceremony. This will be a personalised wedding ceremony where you will exchange beautiful vows and rings. The ceremony will be a celebration of your legal marriage and tailored to reflect your love and relationship.
Image credit: Little Phat Dog Photographic
My wedding venue Isn’t available.
If you have your heart set on a certain date and your venue can’t accommodate this (due to availability), then there is a very real and sad reality that you may have to compromise on your venue. However, if you have a 2 + 2 marriage at the Registry office, the places where you can hold a wedding ceremony are limitless, opening up a whole host of new venue options (that don’t have a license) you may not have considered before. Read more about this in the next section.
If the Registrar is unavailable but the venue is why not book in a 2 + 2 marriage at the Registry office on a different date to comply with the legalities, then have a wedding ceremony at your chosen venue led by a Celebrant? Celebrants rarely do more than one ceremony a day and are therefore completely flexible with timings.
It may also be worth considering a mid week wedding at your chosen venue or a winter wedding. Both these options are less in demand and therefore there will be more availability. A celebrant of course can help here too.
Unlicensed wedding venues For A Celebrant Led Wedding Ceremony
By having the 2+2 ceremony you have opened up your options further. You won’t have to think about a licensed or approved venue where the demand for weddings will be highest. You can have your ceremony anywhere you wish.
A celebrant led wedding ceremony really can be held anywhere. In your garden, in a field, in an unlicensed part of an approved venue, in a wood, on a beach. Anywhere. There may be somewhere you have always thought would be the most perfect place for a wedding or a place with a special meaning to you.
Be imaginative, within reason anything is possible and allow your creative juices to flow and create a new vision for your day.
Image credit: Kathryn Clarke-Mcleod
Choosing your unlicensed venue
Choosing this route you will be completely unhindered by rules but perhaps a few practicalities. So do try and be practical. You need to be able to get all your guests there after all. Be inspired by the images on Pinterest and Instagram and let your creativity and vision for your ceremony take you somewhere special and unique.
Do you mind that you will be legally married before your wedding ceremony?
It’s the vows that you make in front of your friends and family that are important. The wedding ceremony is the essence of your whole wedding day and around which everything else is planned.
Your celebrant led wedding ceremony will be so personal and unique that nobody will notice or care whether you are legally married or not. The focus will be on you both, your relationship, your friendships, your story and love. It will be a real celebration of your marriage.
Celebrant led wedding ceremony : To summarise
It really is quite simple to combine a Celebrant led wedding ceremony with a legal Registrar marriage. By completing the legal formalities independently and not being tied to getting the availability of both Registrar and venue it leaves you open to more choices. It gives you flexibility and when there is a huge demand for so few days this is key. Inevitably wedding celebrants are getting busy too. Don’t delay contact one soon.
