What is the difference between a registrar and a celebrant?

The main difference is the legal element; Registrars work for the Local Authority and are responsible for the administration of registering births, marriages and deaths, they are authorised to conduct legally binding marriage ceremonies at LICENCED venues or Register Offices. Celebrants are self-employed and it is important to note that in England and Wales a Celebrant ceremony is not legally binding.

Normally couples will undertake the necessary paperwork of the LEGAL paperwork as a 2+2 ceremony (couple plus two witnesses) prior to the big day and then move onto the BIG day where you can have what ever you want as it is YOUR big day.

The other very important difference is the ceremony itself, Registrars have a set legally prepared script whereas a Celebrant ceremony script is written from scratch and is unique to each couple.