FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This page has all the important answers to
questions you might have about your ceremony
What type of ceremonies do you do?
Weddings, civil partnerships, naming ceremonies, renewal of vows and commitment ceremonies.
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Are you happy working with the LGBTIQA+ community?
Absolutely. Love is love, no matter who's involved.
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Can I get legally married with you?
No. Celebrants can't officiate legal weddings or civil partnerships at the moment in England, this has to be done by a registrar or religious figure in a register office or church (or similar).
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Do you have to tell people that we're already officially married in the ceremony?
This is something I need to mention at the start of the ceremony, so that nobody thinks I'm impersonating anyone. It can be as simple as saying 'Joni and Jude attended the register office 2 days ago to complete the legal part of their marriage, but today they will be celebrating their wedding with you all'.
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Do we have to get legally married before or after the celebrant ceremony?
Before. Typically people do this in the week leading up to the ceremony.
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Isn't it going to be really expensive to hire a celebrant and a registrar?
A registrar could charge £400-£700 to come to a venue to officiate a wedding or civil partnership, depending on exactly where you live. There is a similar fee to go to a register office for a service. You can instead book a short '2 plus 2' ceremony (the couple, plus 2 other people) which only costs about £80 - £90 total. This cost plus a celebrant is slightly more expensive than a registrar alone, but you've moved from a generic inpersonal ceremony, to a completely bespoke and potentially unique ceremony with a celebrant.
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What ceremonies do you offer?
Weddings, civil partnerships, renewal of vows, commitment ceremonies and naming ceremonies.
What's the cost of a ceremony?
Ceremonies start at £700, see the prices page to find out what this includes.
Are there any extra costs?
There are additional costs for an overnight stay if the ceremony is long distance for me in Manchester, and transport costs for all ceremonies. You may wish to have extra meetings, or a rehearsal of the ceremony, this will be chargeable. Generally though, I stick to £700 and I'm totally yours for this!
Will you travel to my venue?
I live in Manchester, so for environmental reasons, I'd love the majority of my work to be within two hours. If you don't live in the North or Midlands, still get in touch as I do travel around and have family and friends in different parts of the country that I could combine a visit to.
Do you arrive on the day of the ceremony?
This all depends on the location. If you are within an hour or two of Manchester, I would travel on the day. I will arrive early to set up and avoid any potential stress. If you live outside of this two hour radius, I may suggest an overnight stay at your venue (the cost of this would be added onto my fee) to save any issues with traffic on the day.
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When do we pay?
After the meeting in person, if you want to go ahead, I'll start working on the script. When I have finished the first draft, I will ask for a 45% payment before releasing the script. We will then spend the next few weeks and months refining the script until you're completely satisfied that it represents you both. Once this has happened, around a month before the ceremony (depending on when you first booked) I'll call for the 45% balance to be paid and I'll release the final script to you.
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What if we don't like your script?
The script writing will start well in advance of your ceremony, so there will be plenty of time to make changes, so don't worry if you're not completely happy with the first draft. The meeting in person is a great time to see if we're going to be compatible in working together, so you'll find out at this stage if we share the same vision. The script won't deviate in style from the plan we come up with in that meeting, so you're unlikely to be surprised by the style of the first draft I send to you. You're also welcome to read other scripts I've produced in the past to see if you like the style.
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Will you include religion in our ceremony?
As I'm not practicing a religion myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable completely leading a religious ceremony. That being said, I'm more than happy for you to have a religious reading from a friend or family member who has a strong faith. In certain circumstances (with a multi faith wedding for example) where there needs to be more religion added to a ceremony away from a specific religious building. In this instance, I'm happy to discuss options to include your mixed beliefs in the ceremony.
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Do you have any qualifications?
Yes! I'm fully qualified as a naming and couples celebrant through Civil Ceremonies LTD and am a member of the Independent Association of Celebrants too. You might also be interested to know that I am a trained high school Geography teacher, should you ever need any places found on a map during the ceremony :)
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How do we know what your delivery style will be like?
My YouTube channel is a great place to start. Although the Vlog's are a little more informal than a written ceremony, you'll get to listen to me talk passionately about all things celebrant! There are also clips of me at ceremonies on my social media feeds for you to get a rough idea too.
