ARRANGING THE SERVICE

Once you have verified that a Superintendent Registrar can attend, they will then have some questions for you and you will need to provide them with (answers to) the following:

• Each partner will be asked to give their name, address, marital status, age and occupation.

• Proof of identity (passport or birth certificate for example) and proof of residence (such as a recent bank statement or utility bill) must be presented.

• You will be asked, and need to prove if necessary that you are legally allowed to marry. For those of you who have been divorced, a court stamped copy of the Decree Absolute must be shown, whilst for those of you who are widowed, the previous Marriage Certificate and your spouse’s Death Certificate must be presented.

• In the case of Scottish Civil Weddings, two completed Marriage Notice Forms (M10) must also be returned.

With the paperwork out of the way, it is then time to move onto the fun bit – getting stuck into discussing the nitty gritty of the Service (the music, the vows, the readings etc). The Registrar will ask you a number of questions surrounding your preferences for the various elements of the Service and will either approve or disapprove of your requests, although in most cases the former will apply. We cover your options for these various elements in great depth in the articles entitled Music, Songs, Readings and The Vows, so it may be wise for you to head there after reading the remainder of this article so you can see what your options are.