You’re engaged, congratulations!
Amidst all the excitement of wedding planning, finding the perfect venue, in between suit and dress
fittings, cake tasting, wedding breakfast tweaking, which seasonal flowers to use and colour themes you
need to think about one of the most important parts of the ‘big day’ the actual ceremony and who will
marry you and guide you through your all-important vows.
- Pick a Venue:
Once your venue is picked and you have confirmed that it is an approved premises (holds a license for
legal marriages) you can start the legalities by contacting the local Register Office in the county you are
marrying in. Luckily this is made super easy in Norfolk as the local offices can be found simply online and
all contact details and online forms are very easily found. If you are incredibly organised you can secure
your chosen venue, date and time for a Registrar all the way up until the end of 2024!
For Ceremonies in Norfolk CLICK HERE for the Norfolk Registry Service
- What Happens Next
This is all brilliant news, but you may be thinking about what happens now; once you have finalised a date with
your chosen venue and booked the registrar for the time you need. Well, I am here to help settle those
queries and hopefully help you have no last-minute glitches (let’s be honest wedding planning is hard
work at times and if I can help just a tiny bit on this road to getting hitched it will make me very happy!)
Now it is time to talk about ‘giving notice’ this is very important as it is a legal statement to show your
intention to get married, this is signed in your local Register Office by both of you at least 28 clear days
before your wedding ceremony. You will need to both bring documents with you to prove your identity
so make sure you have checked and double-checked what exactly is needed before your appointment.
Once you have given notice you have 12 months to say, ‘I do.’
- Finalise your Ceremony Choices
Whilst this has been going on in the background you should be well into discussions with the Registrar
about finalising your vows, readings and music choices as these need to be chosen eight weeks ahead of
the ceremony. These can be personal to you but must not contain any religious content.
On your wedding day, it is a good idea to already have chosen two guests who can be friends or family,
ideally over 18, but as long as they understand the content of the wedding, they can be younger as
witnesses for your upcoming nuptials. They will sign the Marriage Schedule alongside you. Finally,
you will receive your long-anticipated marriage certificate.
- Make a To-Do List
It is very important to not get lost in the sheer scale of marriage admin and ‘to do’ lists, luckily Norfolk
County Council have a very clear user-friendly website to help you on your journey of booking a
Registrar and giving notice. They clearly outline the paperwork you need to bring to appointments and fees
to pay. I hope that this has helped you, in some way, to know what to expect when securing a Registrar
for your wedding ceremony and to take some of that stress away!