Hearts and Souls Celebrant

As a Celebrant this has come to my attention, there are issues with some register offices no longer offering the option for couples to hold a '2 Plus 2' ceremony, (this is a ceremony for the bride, groom and two witnesses. This however is contrary to the Government guidance that couples should be entitled to a £57 statutory marriage ceremony if they choose. We are therefore taking action to challenge this.

 Some districts are also actively deterring couples from using celebrants and contacting local celebrants asking them to remove 'misleading' information from their websites.

 It has been clear for some time that registrars are worried for their jobs and are therefore trying to mimic what celebrants do, plus employ various tactics to prevent couples using celebrants. This seems to have escalated since the LARCSA Conference last November, where their keynote talk was entitled "Turning threats into opportunities".

There is a meeting scheduled with LARCSA and two registrars have been booked to come and speak and take questions at the National Celebrants Convention on 22nd April. Rest assured we will do all we can to challenge this and promote fairness and transparency for couples.

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