Renewal of vows

A renewal of vows ceremony is for couples who are already married or in a civil partnership together and wish to reaffirm their commitment, to each other. Although these ceremonies have no legal basis, they are a way for you to celebrate your marriage or civil partnership. You can choose to renew your vows in the presence of your family and friends, or you may decide to keep it intimate, between yourselves.

You may have a special anniversary approaching or been through a period of difficulty. Perhaps your family and friends were unable to attend your marriage or civil partnership. Our ceremony is particularly popular with couples who married abroad.

You might just be hopeless romantics!

Whatever your reason, our experienced registrars will ensure your ceremony is personal and memorable. They will also present you with a commemorative certificate as a keepsake of your special day.

You can hold your renewal of vows ceremony at our register offices in Guildford, Leatherhead or Weybridge, or alternatively at any of our licensed venues.

Ceremonies enquiry form

Please complete our online ceremonies enquiry form. Our ceremonies office will then check availability and will contact you by telephone. Please note that it may take up to six days to respond to your new booking enquiry.

A renewal of vows ceremony fee is payable in full at the time of booking.

Please ensure you have fully read and understood our ceremony booking terms and conditions.

Here's a rundown of what you can expect on your celebration day and the preparations you may need to make.

The information below will also help you to complete our checklist for your personalised ceremony

If either member of the couple has symptoms of COVID-19 the ceremony should not go ahead. If any guests or members of their household are unwell with symptoms of COVID-19, they must not attend the ceremony.

Page contents:

• Ceremony at a register office
• Ceremony at a licensed venue
• Ceremony checklist

Ceremony at a register office

It is important that your guests understand that you are already legally married or in a civil partnership and the Registrar will acknowledge this during the ceremony.

Ceremonies will be held in the approved ceremony rooms within the register office building. It will not be possible to hold a ceremony outdoors in the grounds of the register office.

Arrival

Please arrive at least 20 minutes before your ceremony start time.

You must be ready to start your ceremony on time, it cannot be delayed by the late arrival of you or your guests. If you are late for your ceremony, you risk not being able to proceed as planned, a reduction to content may be necessary or we may have to conduct your ceremony at the end of the day.

Entering the room

You can choose how to start your ceremony, whether you wish to be escorted by a family member or friend or together as a couple.

Ceremony script

It is important that your guests understand that you are already legally married or in a civil partnership and the Registrar will acknowledge this during the ceremony.

Please see the attached script which show the ceremony wording. The script cannot be altered, and we will not use scripts provided by anyone else.

Renewal of vows ceremony script (PDF)

You may wish to enhance your ceremony by providing your own music or adding additional vows or promises you would like to say to each other during the ceremony. For example, you might like to include:

• Speeches and readings from your original ceremony or your special music played again.
• New promises to reflect your plans for your continuing future together.
• The rededication of any rings exchanged at your legal marriage or civil partnership or present new rings to each other.

Music

There are several ways to personalise your ceremony. One way is to use music. This can be played for your entrance, during photographs and for your exit from the ceremony room.

You must ensure that any music chosen has no religious content.

You can choose your own music and we will ensure that we have this music for you on the day. Your music will be played through our Bose music system. Please state the title of the song and the name of artist or group clearly on your checklist. You must ensure that any music chosen has no religious content.

Alternatively, you may wish to use the register office classical music selection:

• Canon in D - Pachelbel
• Clair de Lune - Debussy
• Air on a G String - Bach
• The Four Seasons, Spring - Vivaldi
• Arrival of the Queen of Sheba - Handel

Readings

You may wish to further personalise your ceremony by including a maximum of two readings.

Readings can be a poem or piece of prose of your choice and will be read by one of your guests at the ceremony. Alternatively, you or a guest or family member may wish to write something to read at your ceremony. If they would like the reading to be a surprise, they can send it to us directly, with your names and ceremony date.

All readings should be short in length and must not contain any religious content.

Witnesses

Please provide two witnesses at your ceremony as they will sign your commemorative certificate. They must be included in your guest number.

Number of guests at a Register Office

There is no legal limit on attendee numbers or social distancing requirements, other than capacity limits of venues and their risk assessment for safety.

Register office ceremonies will be restricted to the couple and the maximum number of guests that can be safely accommodated within the building and ceremony room.

These numbers apply to register office ceremonies:

• The couple and 48 guests (including children and babies) at Rylston, Weybridge.
• The couple and 48 guests (including children and babies) at Artington House, Guildford.
• The couple and 48 guests (including children and babies) at the Mansion, Leatherhead.

Additional guests will not be permitted to enter any part of the register office building. Any attempt to exceed the number of guests will mean that your ceremony will not take place, as this will pose an increased risk to other users of the register office site.

Recording the event

The photographer/videographer will be allowed in the room to take photographs/record the event. Further photographs may be taken in the garden after your ceremony.

If you would like one of your guests to film or live stream the ceremony, they may do so from their seat, using their own equipment.

Please note we cannot accept any responsibility for any damage or loss of any equipment whilst on any premises.

Biodegradable confetti

Biodegradable confetti only, can be thrown outside the building.

Ceremony at a licensed venue

Checklists for your personalised ceremony

Please complete the relevant ceremony checklist online no earlier than no earlier than four to six weeks prior to your ceremony date. The ceremony checklist will help us personalise your ceremony with details of your celebration, such as your choice of vows or promises and music.

Renewal of vows checklist

Files available to download

• Renewal of vows ceremony script (PDF)
  Script showing the ceremony wording for your renewal of vows ceremony.