Renewing Vows next year but registrar still want £400!

marksta

Hi all

My wife and I are going to renew our vows next year as a celebration for getting out of debt (should be debt free end of this year!), and to celebrate 10 years together. And an excuse to have a right knees up!

We are having a small ceremony in a stately home before the evening do (just a few family and friends for £150). The ceremony won't be more than 20 mins with readings etc. We were looking for someone to conduct the ceremony and contacted the registry office, hoping that they would be able to do us a special rate because it isn't a legally binding service like a wedding, but they still want to charge us the full rate!

We looked at other people to conduct the ceremony and contacted a few people from the Humanist Society, but they also want at least Four hundred pounds for a ceremony that will last no more than 20 minutes!

Do any of you have any suggestions as to who could conduct the ceremony? Legally it could be anyone at all - but we want something nice and formal and professional (not some "Mad Uncle Dave" turning the ceremony into a joke) so someone who is trustworthy and no stranger to public speaking.

Many thanks

LEJC

There are lots of people you could ask...although what you have to appreciate is that unless they are doing it as a favour to you then they will want paying for their time.

Just because its a renewal and there are no actual legal fees to pay doesnt mean that the act of re blessing your marriage is going to be significantly cheaper for a registrar to attend than if they were presiding over a marriage...

A family member of mine recently died and we needed a minister to conduct the 20 min service prior to cremation..the cost was £170 plus the fees for an organist if we wished to sing a hymn..I agree that fees in general do appear high but these are the amounts you need to pay someone in order to conduct a service.

If you have a connection with a church then its quite possible that fees may be reduced or waived but that is down to the individual place/person.

I think you will find it as you move deeper into the renewal process that it probably wont work out that much cheaper than a wedding if you want all the trappings...ie a cake and maybe sparkling wine for 50 to cerlebrate your renewal will cost much the same as a cake and sparkling wine for newlyweds.

daisiegg

You keep saying it's 'only 20 minutes' but I don't think this is necessarily much shorter than an ordinary wedding ceremony! I was at a wedding ceremony in January that lasted about 7 minutes. I don't think you are paying for what they are actually doing - you are more paying for their time so it doesn't matter if they are doing a proper ceremony or not.

Could you not have the big party and maybe both say some vows to each other in the form of speeches? Like a mini ceremony but without having to pay someone for doing not a whole lot?

trinity_enigma

The problem is that although it isn't legally binding and may be shorter than a wedding (but probably a similar amount if time) is that they could be doing an actual wedding therefore they could miss out on the cost they would normally charge.

Look at it that they charge £400 for an hour of work (when including travelling time, preparation etc than for an actual specific ceremony. It's still expensive but what can you do?