Thursday, October 11, 2007
Preparing for the Wedding Ceremony
When you register your wedding at the registry office in Edinburgh you will receive a booklet that explains in detail what will happen at your wedding ceremony.
The booklet has a couple of pages for each part of the ceremony and explains exactly what the registrar will say during the ceremony and what you can and cannot change. For parts of the ceremony that can be changed the booklet gives a number of options to choose from and in some cases allows you to insert your own words (subject to approval).
At the time of writing the ceremony booklet is made up of the following sections:
- Welcome/Introduction
- Identification
- Words During the Ceremony
- Definition of Marriage
- Paperwork Preliminaries
- Consent to Declarations
- No Impediment Declaration
- Husband and Wife Declaration
- Exchange of Vows
- Exchange of Rings
- Pronounced Husband and Wife
- Signing of Schedule
If you want to change anything or add anything to the ceremony you need to fill in th booklet and make sure it is delivered to the registration office no later than 14 days before the ceremony date.
Stuart and I spent a bit of time this evening working out what we wanted to do. To make things a little more personal we have made a few ammendments, added a few extra options and also included a history of the Balmoral hotel since this is the venue that we are getting married in. We are also having a couple of readings, a piper to pipe me/us in and out and some classical music at the beginning of the ceremony as guests arrive and while we are signing the registar.
Tomorrow I've got quite a busy day - my wedding makeup trial at Zen, a visit to the registry office to hand in the ceremony booklet, my wedding hair trial at John Malcolm, a visit to the Florist to confirm the flowers and make the final payment and I also have to make the payment for the cake at Jenners. More about all of this tomorrow...
Labels: Civil Ceremony
Monday, September 17, 2007
Readings for our Wedding Ceremony
At the weekend we decided upon the readings for our wedding ceremony. We decided on a reading about Love and a poem about marriage. My two great friends Michelle and Kirsteen are going to be doing the readings.
What Is Love?
(Anon)
Sooner or later we begin to understand,
that love is more than verses on valentines
and romance in the movies.
We begin to know that love is here and now,
real and true, the most important thing in our lives.
For love is the creator of our favourite memories
and the foundation of our fondest dreams.
Love is a promise that is always kept,
a fortune that can never be spent,
a seed that can flourish
in even the most unlikely of places.
And this radiance that never fades,
this mysterious and magical joy,
is the greatest treasure of all
one known only by those who love.
Marriage
(Anon)
A marriage is a promise that two hearts gladly make.
A promise to be tender, to help, to give and take.
A marriage is a promise to be kind and understanding, to be thoughtful and
considerate, fair and undemanding.
A marriage is a promise to share one life together.
A love filled promise meant to be kept lovingly forever.
Lets hope I don't cry :-)
Labels: Civil Ceremony
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Having a Civil Ceremony in Scotland
If you are not having a church ceremony, then the first thing you need do once you have booked your wedding venue is to book a registrar to conduct your civil ceremony.
In the recent past you could only have a civil ceremony in a Registry Office, but thankfully these days you can be married in a hotel or another venue, as long as that venue has a license to hold a civil ceremony. Getting married in a registry office has never really appealed to me, but I am looking forward to my ceremony, which will be held in a lovely room in the Balmoral hotel.
Once you have your venue booked you need to fill in an AP1 form and hand it into or send it to your nearest registry office. If you have booked a hotel for your wedding ceremony the wedding/events co-ordinator should be able to give you this form. He or she will need to fill out part of the form before you can send it to the registry office.
The main registry office in Edinburgh is in India Buildings in Victoria street (the road that leads from George IV Bridge to the Grassmarket:
2 India Buildings
Victoria Street
EH1 2EX
Tel: 0131 220 0349
There is also a registry office in Ferry Road, Leith and Currie, Kirkliston and South Queensferry.
You also need to make a payment with the AP1 form. At the time of writing this is a £220 for getting married on a Saturday.
I decided to hand in the form and cheque in person and I received a pack with lots of information in it about the ceremony itself - what was going to happen during the ceremony and which parts we could change or add to ourselves - more about that nearer the time. There was also a booklet of suggested readings plus a load of advertising bumf.
I would recommend getting the registrar booked as early as possible, especially if your wedding is in the summer. I booked the registrar about a month ago and I was the first name in the book, but this is probably because we are getting married at the end of October, which isn't as popular as the summer months.
You can find out more about registering marriages on the
Civil Ceremony in Edinburgh page.
Labels: Civil Ceremony
