It is the legal responsibility of the couple, or someone acting for them, to return the Schedule to the registration office within three days of the ceremony. Some registrars ask for it sooner.

Don’t leave the Schedule lying around after the ceremony. Make sure it goes into the hotel safe, or the couple’s room, or into the hands of a responsible person. The couple carry the legal responsibility, but protect yourself by making sure the Schedule is kept safe immediately after the ceremony and that you know where you placed it or to whom you gave it.

Agree beforehand with the couple who will take the Schedule from you after the ceremony. Most family and friends go straight into celebration mode, so a wedding planner or hotel reception is often the wisest choice. In other settings the couple may nominate a parent, sibling or member of the wedding party. Don’t be surprised if it is the first they have heard of it; take a minute to explain the importance of the document and the need to keep it clean and safe, and let the couple know who has it.

Changes to the Schedule

• You have no authority to alter the Schedule without the registrar’s permission. Any change, including a change of witness, a move to a different venue within the same registration district, or a correction to your own designation, must be agreed in advance with the registrar who issued the Schedule. A change of date, or a move to a venue in a different registration district, may not be made without that registrar’s prior consent.
• Minor errors the couple notice in their own names, addresses, occupations or marital status must not be amended on the Schedule; the registrar corrects these when the Schedule is returned.
• Outside office hours, and only in an emergency, a minor change (for example, the spelling of a witness’s address) may be made by scoring through the incorrect detail with a single line in permanent archive-quality black ink and printing the correct detail above or below. Be ready to explain to the registrar, on a separate sheet returned with the Schedule, why prior approval could not be obtained.
• How a permitted change is recorded also varies by district: some accept a single line through; some prefer a note on the back of the Schedule; some issue a separate form for amendments. Before your first ceremony in a district, and before any weekend or bank-holiday ceremony, ask the registration office how it wants changes recorded.