Please see the script below, with the words in italics that the couple will repeat after the registrar:
‘Good morning/afternoon everyone. On behalf of my colleague (Registrar 2’s name), and myself (Registrar 1’s name), I would like to welcome you to (Ceremony venue) to the celebration of the union between (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name).
Today, (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) will celebrate their commitment to each other with by converting their civil partnership to a marriage.
It has now been (number of) years since (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) became civil partners. Their civil partnership was a promise of hope. It was a sign that they loved each other, and that they trusted that love to sustain their future together.
One purpose of this ceremony is to celebrate the love between (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) in which, as family and friends, you can all share.
Marriage and civil partnership enables two people to share their strengths and their weaknesses, their hopes and their fears, their desires and aspirations, their doubts and disappointments. It is an opportunity for mutual support, which can enhance all of life’s experiences – sorrows are halved, joys are doubled.
When (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) became civil partners, things changed; from then on their allegiance was to each other. Part of the purpose of a civil partnership ceremony is so that others respect the relationship between the couple and encourage them to keep their promises of loyalty.
So today (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) are saying ‘thank you’ for the past (number of) years not only to each other, but to all those who have helped them through those years, some of whom will be sharing this ceremony today.
[1ST READING (OPTIONAL)]
Today, (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) have invited you to share in their happiness and to witness as they renew their promises to each other.
(Partner 1’s name), please repeat after me
(Partner 2’s name), whatever the future may hold, may our union be part of it. The future is hidden; it will have hopes and disappointments, successes and failures, pleasures and pain. But love can soften every blow. May our love never fail, but grow deeper and stronger as the years pass.
(Partner 2’s name), please repeat after me
(Partner 1’s name), whatever the future may hold, may our union be part of it. The future is hidden; it will have hopes and disappointments, successes and failures, pleasures and pain. But love can soften every blow. May our love never fail, but grow deeper and stronger as the years pass.
[2ND READING (OPTIONAL)]
[PERSONAL VOWS (OPTIONAL)]
[RINGS (OPTIONAL)]
A ring is a circle of wholeness, perfect in form, without beginning or end. (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) will now re-dedicate the ring/s they exchanged (number of) years ago.
Who has the rings?
(Partner 1’s name), please repeat after me
This ring was a symbol of our civil partnership, and now of our marriage. Continue to wear it as a lasting reminder, of my promise made to you (number of) years ago, and again today.
(Partner 2’s name), please repeat after me
This ring was a symbol of our civil partnership, and now of our marriage. Continue to wear it as a lasting reminder, of my promise made to you (number of) years ago, and again today.
[GUEST’S VOWS (OPTIONAL)
Will all the guests please stand.
I am now going to ask all of you, assembled here today, to lend your verbal support to this couple, and I am expecting the response: ‘We will’.
Will you, the family and friends, fully endorse, have faith in and give your lasting support to (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) who stand before us here today?
(We will)
[3RD READING (OPTIONAL)]
And now as we come to the closing of the ceremony.
Cherish your love for each other, enhance the potential you have as individuals and as a couple and look to your future with a commitment that grows deeper and stronger as the years pass.
It now gives me great pleasure to declare that you are now husband/wife and husband/wife!
You may now kiss each other!’
[SIGNING OF THE SCHEDULE]
[COUPLE DECLARED AS THEY HAVE ASKED TO BE DECLARED ON THE PRE-CEREMONY ORGANISER]