Witness Roulette - Question for uk couples

Our registrar wanted to speak to them beforehand, so you will definitely need to check with the registrar/officiant if this is ok. If they say it is ok, then I would suggest giving guests the option of adding their name to the hat if they want to - not everyone feels comfortable being a witness and you don't want to put someone on the spot.

The legal requirement is that the person must have sufficient English to understand the words of the ceremony and must also have the 'mental competence' to understand what is happening. So you would also need to consider if you will have any guests who do not speak fluent English or any who have learning difficulties, dementia or other conditions which might prevent them having a full understanding of what is happening. If you are planning on including under 18s in your 'hat', you will also need to check with the registrar if they have any age restrictions - some registrars say that all witnesses must be over 18, others say 16 and some do not set an age limit but just satisfy themselves that the person fulfils the legal requirements.

We were asked to name ours when we gave notice to the registrar. We were told we could change them, but would have to notify the registrar who would be conducting our ceremony. In the meeting prior to the ceremony, we each had to confirm the names and spellings of the witnesses - we potentially could have changed them at this point but we didn’t ask.

I think because the witnesses are part of the “legal bit”, it might not be the best bit to mix things up with. On the day the legal stuff is the one thing that you absolutely do not want to go wrong!