Civil wedding: do you need to learn vows by heart?

Nope. They say a line, you repeat.

This.

And do remember to repeat. I forgot, bringing much merriment to my guests as they thought I'd changed my mind and was having a wobble. I was stood there waiting for the registrar to carry on...

Lol, thanks for letting me know, that sounds just like something I would do!

So do they also say the bit about the ring and you repeat that too?

You can either have them read it out and you repeat it, or you can have it written down - we did this. I knew it pretty much off by heart anyway, but it's helpful to have a reminder just in case the stress makes you forget!

t'was a tad embarassing!

Yes, the registrar turns to you and says take the ring and place it on the 4th finger of his left hand repeating after her...

Reg: I give you this ring...

You: I give you this ring...

Reg: As a sign of my love and etc

You: As a sign...

Will vary depending on what vows you choose, but the Registrar will come out when you arrive and run you through it briefly before you go in.

Our registrar will apparently have our 'additional promises' written out for us and bring it on the day, but we will prob take our own copy as well just in case.

I am going to, but only because I want to not cause you have to. My sister did it for her church wedding and I thought it was nice. Well have it on cards in case we forget