Time for Edinburgh to say ‘I do’ to Ceremony Planner

As one of the first Scottish Registrar clients on the Zipporah books, Edinburgh City Council has led the way in digital transformation long before its journey began with Zipporah. As a 'can do' council, Edinburgh is constantly pushing for change and enhancements to its digital strategy. With one of the most comprehensive Zipporah Registrar solutions with the addition of multiple modules and integrations – Ceremony Planner was the natural next step for Edinburgh. 

The Ceremony Planner will allow Edinburgh City Council to enhance their citizens' journey before they even walk down the aisle. The solution allows the public to take complete control of their ceremonies down to the last-minute detail, freeing up Registrars and ceremony staff – A win-win in Edinburgh’s eyes. 

With a cloud-based solution and a responsive design, couples can make ceremony choices 24/7 from the comfort of their sofa at the touch of a button. From choosing music at midnight – to paying any fees and deposits at midday – the power is in their hands. Simply input your decision and build the ceremony of your dreams. 

Benefits for the public were of high importance for the council – but it was the massive benefits to the Registrar and Ceremony departments that sold the solution to Edinburgh. Staff allocation was a key factor for Edinburgh - the new system will minimise the need to chase a sessional for availability or the mundane task of viewing 20 individuals' calendars to determine who is available for which ceremony at what time. The Zipporah solution enables the sessional to update their calendars with their availability – allowing the system to populate those, and only those who are available – making allocation that much easier and more efficient. 

A streamlining of workflow efficiency within the teams was also an important goal for the council. Task management functionality offers the ability to view a set list of tasks automatically generated by the booking, ensuring all tasks are completed by the necessary personnel by the defined date – with a colour code to highlight completed tasks, prospective tasks, and those that are overdue – staff can easily see what tasks take precedence.  

The system also offers Edinburgh City Council; 

• Payment management to take payments online and easily view which payments are due gives much greater control over their finances. 
• The ability to create their smart forms to gather ceremony information to get the information they specifically require. 
• Control and management of the ceremonies to determine when ceremony decisions should be completed by the couple and set due dates for payments by the public such as fees and deposits.  

With beautiful locations and incredible venues across the entire city, it was important for Edinburgh City Council to offer a service that reflects that beauty in a simple, easy-to-use system that would benefit both the council and the excited newly engaged. We are always keen to work with a forward-thinking council like Edinburgh and look forward to furthering this partnership.