The Civil Partnership Ceremony

There are a number of options available to you to enable you to make your ceremony as personal as you would want it to be.

The Ceremony

When you book your ceremony, you will be given a Choices booklet onto (see below) which you can record your specific requirements. This should be completed and returned to the register office that is dealing with your arrangements either when you pay the fee or at least two weeks before the date of your ceremony (standard ceremonies).

 Partnership Ceremony Choices

Arrival at the ceremony

It is advisable that you and your guests arrive no later than 10 minutes before your ceremony time (standard ceremony) and at least 15 minutes before hand for enhanced ceremonies and those taking place at an approved venue. However, you should not arrive more than 20 minutes before the ceremony time.  At the venue it is advisable to nominate a responsible person to look after your guests and to ensure that they are seated where you wish them to be seated in a timely manner (similar to the role performed by an usher).

Both partners have to be interviewed by the registrar in private before the ceremony takes place. This can either be done individually or together. The registrar will need to make sure that all of your details are correct and to collect any fees that have not been paid.

Witnesses

You will need to ask for two people to act as witnesses to your civil partnership. These could be friends or relatives for example; however the only real constraint is that the people who are acting as witnesses are old enough to understand the ceremony and their role in it.  Witnesses must therefore be at least 16 years of age.  They will be required to watch and listen to the ceremony and then to sign the register afterwards.

Registration of your civil partnership

As part of your ceremony, the partnership is recorded onto a schedule, which you and your witnesses must sign. Both partners sign in the names that they were using prior to the ceremony.

The registrar will also sign the schedule. Unfortunately, the details of signatures and witnesses need to be entered onto a computer record before a certificate can be issued and consequently it will not be possible to issue you with your certificate(s) during your ceremony. They will however be posted to you afterwards using the address details that you provided on your ceremony plan.  At the ceremony we will present you with a commemorative certificate.

You may purchase additional copies of your certificate at an extra cost. Details of the current charges can be found on the fees and charges page.

Duration of ceremonies

Each ceremony lasts for approximately half an hour, those taking place at approved venues may take longer.

There are two types of Certificate, Full or Extract.  The Full Certificate is an exact copy of schedule, the Extract omits your address.  Both types of Certificate are the same price.

Photographs, video and confetti

Your guests are welcome to take photographs both before and after the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony there will be an opportunity to pose for photographs in front of the register. If you would like one of your guests to make a video recording of your ceremony then please speak to registration Services who will be able to advise as to the best location within each of the ceremony rooms. For safety reasons, extra lighting cannot be brought into the ceremony room and all equipment used must run on batteries. All of our venues also have attractive gardens which can also be used for photographs both before and after the ceremony.

Your guests may throw confetti, however in order to keep the premises tidy for couples who may have ceremonies after yours, we ask that confetti is only thrown outside the premises.

Parking

The amount of parking space varies according to the venue. For details about parking facilities at each of the register offices please use the link provided to view the details about each of the individual offices details page. For details about the parking facilities at approved venues, it is best to contact the establishment directly. Details about approved venues can be found by using the link to the approved premises page.

Last Modified: 27/06/2007 13:51:32
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