Celebrant vs registrar: what’s the difference?
What’s a celebrant and what’s a registrar? Wondering what the right choice is for your big day? Let’s take a look at the key differences!
(Bear in mind that the below advice applies to celebrants and registrars in the UK. If you’re from another country, things will be different.)
Celebrant or registrar? Differences at a glance
Registrars:
Are employed by the local council
Can only conduct ceremonies in a licensed venue
Often have many weddings they’re officiating on the same day and need you to stick to a strict time slot, so if you’re running late it may be an issue
Will very likely not meet you until the day of your wedding, meaning that your ceremony will be officiated by a complete stranger
Stick to a set script that allows for minimal personalisation
Won’t allow any religious content in your ceremony (including music that has religious references, religious readings or vows, etc.)
Offer legal ceremonies
Celebrants:
Are self-employed and work independently
Can lead ceremonies anywhere (the venue does not need a licence - it can be your parents’ back garden, a remote beach, the top of a mountain)
Only take one wedding a day usually, so you can rest easy knowing they’ll work around your schedule
Meet you and work with you over the course of months (sometimes years, depending on how far in advance you book them) so they get to know you and will feel like a familiar friend by the time they officiate your ceremony
Create ceremonies from scratch, based on your love story and tailored to your personalities
May be very happy to include religious content in the ceremony (this depends on each celebrant’s own preferences - every celebrant is different!)
Offer personalised ceremonies
With a celebrant, your ceremony can take place absolutely anywhere! (Photo by Kim Williams Weddings)
Wait, so can a celebrant marry you legally?
No - BUT hear me out!
Celebrants cannot conduct legally binding ceremonies in England and Wales. (In Scotland and Ireland, some but not all celebrants can conduct legal ceremonies. I live in England, so I’m going to focus on the situation in England below.)
What celebrants offer is a completely personalised experience, thoughtfully designed for you. The creation of a celebrant ceremony is a process that gives you the space to reflect on the journey you’ve taken together and what marriage might mean for you personally, enabling you to enter your marriage with intention.
You’ll need to go to a registrar to get your marriage legalised (if that’s something you want). But a simple registrar ceremony with only the essential legal wording (sometimes called a “statutory ceremony” or a “2+2”, because it requires the two of you + two witnesses) usually costs in the region of £50-70 depending on the council, and that’s all you need to become legally married. In Merton, where I’m based, a statutory ceremony only costs £56.
If you’re trans or nonbinary, you also have to bear in mind that the legal wording will very likely misgender you. A celebrant ceremony doesn’t include any required wording as it’s not a legal ceremony, so you can feel safe choosing a queer-friendly celebrant (like me!), knowing that we’ll use the right name and pronouns for you and create an authentic, gender-affirming experience. For more info on this, check out my blog post on: Getting married as a trans/non-binary person in the UK
By the time I officiate your wedding ceremony, we’ll feel like friends - and I promise I will be so invested in your love story! (Photo by Alt Wedding Co)
How much does a celebrant cost? Is a celebrant more expensive than a registrar?
That depends on the celebrant, and on the council in which you plan to get married. The short answer is that usually you are not saving that much money by going with a registrar instead of a celebrant, and sometimes a registrar can actually cost more.
Remember, you can’t choose your registrar. Like with any profession, there are amazing registrars, and some not so good ones - I would be lying if I said the same didn’t apply to celebrants, but the great thing about celebrants is that you choose your celebrant. You can meet with lots of different celebrants and find out what they’re like and how they work, and then it’s up to you to figure out which one you vibe with.
A registrar ceremony doesn’t give you much freedom or personalisation, and there are restrictions around what you can or can’t include. Registrars have a template script that they re-use over and over again. The service they’re charging you for boils down to legalisation and attending the licensed venue.
Let’s say for example that you’re in the London Borough of Merton, where I am. In Merton, a registrar will charge you £750 in 2025 for conducting a ceremony at a licensed venue on a Sunday.
I’m a wedding celebrant in Merton. A ceremony crafted and officiated by me costs £900 in 2025. The service that I’m charging you for includes all of the following:
Multiple consultation and planning meetings
Getting to know your gorgeous quirks and your love story
Expert guidance on how to weave in your cultural traditions and helpful suggestions of fun surprises/rituals/symbolic elements/games to include based on your personalities and interests
Writing your fully personalised ceremony from scratch and making any tweaks you need me to
Officiating your ceremony, wherever and whenever you want it to be
If you want to get married legally, opting for a statutory ceremony (which, as mentioned above, costs £56 in Merton) in addition to your celebrant ceremony means you will be paying £956 in total. (Other councils may have slightly more expensive statutory ceremonies - but they might also have more expensive registrar ceremonies in general.)
So as you see, the price difference isn’t huge. But you’re getting a lot more value for your money with a celebrant ceremony!
A celebrant ceremony is memorable. It’s funny, silly, moving, joyful - it’s anything you want it to be. It’s packed full of your in-jokes, your relationship milestones, your dreams and adventures. The story of your first date, your first kiss, the first time you said “I love you” to each other, the moment you decided you wanted to get married. All of this and more goes into your ceremony.
A celebrant ceremony also embraces your guests - your celebrant can help you come up with so many ways to involve your loved ones in your ceremony, so that your friends, your family, and even your pets can play an active role in your big moment if you want them to.
Why wouldn’t you go for that, when it doesn’t cost much more than a registrar ceremony?
Ready to book a celebrant and transform your wedding ceremony from cookie-cutter to a creative feast?
Photo by Ione Films and Photos
Hi! 👋 I’m Holden (they/them), a queer wedding celebrant specialising in inclusive, authentically romantic ceremonies that are all about what makes you swoon with joy.
If you’re ready to ditch stale and bland ceremonies for something that feeds your soul and makes you feel full of love, I can’t wait to hear from you! 🙌
Get in touch today using my enquiry form
Or follow me on Instagram and drop me a DM!
