From the 1 July you can get married or form a civil partnership.
These public health measures are in place to keep you, your guests and celebrants safe during the period of COVID-19.
Who the guidance is for
This guidance applies to:
- all couples who are still planning to marry or hold a civil partnership in Jersey during the period of COVID-19
- legal marriage ceremonies (whether they are in a church or a civil venue) and to all civil partnership ceremonies
- both indoor and outdoor venues
- any person present at a marriage or civil partnership ceremony
This guidance does not apply to wedding receptions and parties. There're separate public health measures in place for these events.
Public health guidance on gathering during COVID-19
Ceremony venues
All wedding ceremony venues need to comply with public health guidance. This includes
- hotels
- places of worship
- heritage sites
- other hospitality venues
- a private home
It will be their responsibility to ensure that each room or area being used for a ceremony complies with public health guidance.
If your ceremony is taking place at a private venue such as someone’s home, garden or field, it will be the owner and responsible person’s role to ensure that they comply with public health guidance.
Marriage celebrants - religious officials and authorised civil celebrants responsibilities
The person responsible for conducting your ceremony has a legal duty to make sure that the ceremony complies with public health guidance.
If your ceremony does not comply with public health guidance, they can halt or delay the ceremony to take the steps to make sure it is compliant.
If physical distancing requirements are not adhered to or the maximum attendance number is exceeded, the celebrant will refuse to conduct the ceremony until these measures are made.
Number of attendees at a ceremony
The amount of people who can attend your ceremony will be restricted by physical distancing requirements.
The maximum number of people who can attend your wedding is 40 people. This includes:
- the couple getting married
- guests
- the celebrant or religious official
- children / babies
- photographer
- anyone else in the room / ceremony space
A further maximum number of 10 members of staff associated with the wedding are permitted to be present in the room or designated space where the wedding ceremony is taking place. This includes the:
- celebrant or religious official
- photographer
- venue staff
- anyone else facilitating the ceremony
Every person attending a ceremony must comply with physical distancing rules in place on the day of the ceremony.
Currently, a physical distance of 1 metre must be maintained between anyone who is not from the same household including the couple getting married.
The size of the room or area where your ceremony is taking place will dictate how many people can safely attend within physical distancing rules.
Your venue will advise you of the number of people that can be in the room or area where your ceremony is taking place. If you are marrying in a private venue, the owner of the venue will make this assessment.
Public health requirements at the ceremony
All aspects of the ceremony must comply with public health requirements, including:
Attendance register
Every person attending a ceremony will be asked to provide their name and contact details in an attendance register. This will allow contact tracing if it is later discovered that one or more attendees had COVID-19.
It's the venue’s responsibility to keep this record of attendance, or if you're marrying at a private venue it is the owner’s responsibility.
Arrival/departure of guests
In line with public venues, ceremonies taking place in private venues must coordinate guests to enter and exit the location in a controlled way and not to congregate in any one area or areas.
Orders of service
You must not hand out orders of service. They should be made available to your guests in digital format. If this is not possible, paper copies should be available on chairs or in a pile at the entrance and safely disposed of after the ceremony.
Procession of the bride/groom and bridesmaids/groomsmen
Only persons from the same household can be within 1 metre of one another.
The bride and any person walking with the bride/groom, including bridesmaids and groomsmen and (if relevant) the person giving the bride and groom away, must be 1 metre away from anyone else not in their household.
Exchange of rings
Rings should be held and handled only by the couple. They should not be handed to the couple or handled by any other person at the ceremony.
Live music and performance
Singing, in addition to woodwind and brass music, is strongly discouraged both outdoors and indoors because of the very high risk of dispersing droplets and therefore of spreading infection.
Signing the legal documentation
Your celebrant/religious official will ensure that the pen is wiped down after each person has used it.
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