Role Of The Registrar
Steve Lloyd, Lancashire County Council’s Registration Service Manager, who is responsible for the region’s registrar service, explains the many and varied roles of the registrar
No two days are the same for our wedding registrars and there are plenty of reasons why. Most weddings – up to 85 per cent – in England and Wales are now civil rather than religious. Civil weddings usually happen in register offices or venues approved by the local council, giving couples lots of choices for planning their ceremony.
Legally, two registrars must attend a civil wedding because there are two distinct roles – the marriage registrar and the celebrant. The marriage registrar handles the legal pre-ceremony questioning, completes the official paperwork and registers the marriage in the national electronic register. The celebrant guides the couple through the ceremony, ensuring they declare they are free to marry and complete the verbal contract of marriage. In Lancashire, staff are trained to handle both roles.
One lesser-known part of the registrar’s job is being vigilant against potential forced and sham marriages. Staff need to know what to do if they discover someone is being coerced into marriage or if someone doesn’t seem to have the mental capacity to get married. Registrars are trained to deal with these situations too.
Registrars’ work is seasonal. Many couples want to get married during the summer, with outdoor ceremonies becoming more popular. A summer Saturday at 1pm is prime wedding time! A busy Saturday in August might have our registrars travelling from venue to venue, delivering three or four ceremonies in one day. For every couple they meet, registrars need to be personable, professional and attentive, making each couple feel like theirs is the only ceremony that day. Because of the seasonal nature of the job, all our ceremony registrars work part-time and flexibly.
Another trend we’ve noticed is the increased desire for personalised ceremonies. During the ceremony, the celebrant can mention how the couple met, their common interests, special guests who are present, or even those who can’t be there – and it’s amazing how many couples want us to mention their pets too!
While couples increasingly want to personalise their ceremonies, many traditions not enshrined in law remain popular – many couples don’t see each other before the wedding and someone may still be ‘given away’ although not so much in the conventional sense anymore. Lots of couples still have bridesmaids, pageboys and flower girls. There’s always a new trend making the rounds and recent ones include ring warming and witness raffles at the beginning of the ceremony.
The type of weddings we conduct in Lancashire are diverse, ranging from minimal fuss to all-out celebrations. Registrars might conduct a ceremony with just the couple and two witnesses, with nothing more than the legally required words. The next ceremony might feature over 100 guests, music and readings. The Ribble Valley in particular has lots of approved venues, offering a variety of options.
For those who have been in the registration service for a long time, there has been a lot of change over the last 30 years. Not just the shift to more civil weddings, but also the ability to marry outside the hours of 8am to 6pm, to marry outdoors and even the way marriages are registered. The registrar’s role is fascinating and we know it will continue to change as time goes on. One thing is for sure – the wedding boom isn’t slowing down!
