How can a Celebrant help during Covid restrictons?
WEDDINGS & WINE LIVE
At the start of this month we caught up with Lancashire Celebrant, Vikki Harris who joined us on our October edition of Weddings & Wine Facebook LIVE to chat all things weddings and delve into the wonderful world of a celebrant led ceremony.
Celebrants have always been an option for your ceremony but with Covid restrictions postponing weddings this year, a celebrant is becoming a very favourable choice with many couples and here’s why…
*Please note, a celebrant led ceremony is not legally binding. You would still need a ceremony led by registrars either with the celebrant or at another time.
Watch the full video below…
HERE’S WHAT ELSE VIKKI HAS TO SAY…
How A Celebrant Can Help During Covid Restrictions
With government restrictions in place around weddings taking place in light of Covid-19, and a backlog of weddings for registrars and venues to accommodate, a Celebrant can help you continue to hold your dream wedding without relying on the availability of the registrars.
The difference between a Marriage and a Wedding
Life events such as births, deaths and marriages have to be legally registered – however they do not have to be celebrated at the same time as they are legally recorded. If you think about it... there isn’t a big party in the register office when you register the birth of a baby, and neither do all of the family and friends descend on the register office for a wake or funeral at the same time as the death of their loved one is being registered.
And so it is the same with contracting a marriage (the legal bit recorded in the register). Couples have the option of celebrating with a wedding ceremony at a later (or earlier) date.
Separate the marriage from the wedding
In separating the legal contract or “marriage” from the ceremonial “wedding”, you free yourselves up from the constraints of registrars. You may not know this, but when you go to see the registrar, you don’t even have to exchange rings or vows with a simple ceremony, you can do all that with the Celebrant at your venue on your wedding day. You can do the contract part of your marriage with the registrar and get the legalities out of the way anytime, then enjoy your vision of a bespoke perfect wedding at your venue, officiated by a Celebrant.
Outdoor weddings
Perhaps the single biggest thing that would help with social distancing is that a registrar cannot marry couples outside or in a marquee, it can only happen in the approved designated area. A Celebrant on the other hand, can make full use of any outside space and officiate wedding ceremonies anywhere, be that a forest, barn, garden, tepee, bandstand, beach, marquee... the only limit is the couple’s imagination (and permission from the land owner of course).
Champagne weddings
An hour before the registrar’s ceremony, you are not permitted to serve alcohol in the designated wedding area. This means your guests can’t mingle with a glass of celebratory champagne right up to, during and after the wedding ceremony... unless you have a Celebrant-led wedding ceremony of course, where anything goes!
Personalisation
With a registrar, a couple will never meet a registrar until their wedding day, but with a Celebrant led wedding they’ll get a truly bespoke service that goes way beyond the formalities. A celebrant will take time to get to know you both and create a beautiful ceremony that you and your guests will rave about for years to come.
Wedding Celebration
Perhaps you want to hold a smaller low key or online ceremony on your original wedding date, and have a bigger ceremony when you can have the numbers you originally planned. A Celebrant led ceremony is perfect for your bigger ceremony on your wedding day later down the line. With the official marriage registration performed by a registrar at your smaller ceremony beforehand.
GET IN TOUCH WITH VIKKI!
VIKKI HARRIS LANCASHIRE CELEBRANT
If you’d like to know more about how Vikki can help make your dream ceremony happen, please get in touch with her on:
07867 662 531
or visit her on the following platforms:
Join us next month over on our Facebook page for all the wedding goss over a glass of wine (or gin!)
For more information on how we can help you have your dream wedding here at Sparth House, please get in touch or check out some of our helpful links below.
Join us over on Instagram for some more Wedding fun…
Katie
Wedding Coordinator
Our lovely Katie comes from a fashion background, so not only very creative and organised but super passionate about weddings. A winning combination!
She loves it when couples push the boundaries and try different ideas for their weddings, so don’t be scared to ask her to create any weird and wonderful concepts you mayhave!
What is Katies favourite part of a wedding? “When the wedding couple come out of the ceremony room once they are married, they are so happy and it’s lovely being one of the first people to congratulate them!”
What else should we know about Katie? She is a Mum to some very cute kitties!