A NEW WEDDINGS LAW?

Nicola Le Couteur Bisson of the Cornish Celebrants looks at the prospect of a new wedding law – and what it could mean for your ceremony

The ceremony, the heart of your wedding day, is full of choices – legal ones! Will you marry in church, in the register office, a hotel or stately home? Or have you got your heart set on a romantic wedding on a beach or in your parents’ garden? Anything is possible, but there are legal hoops to jump through to have the day of your dreams if you wish to be legally married.

Currently there are limited options for a legal marriage in England and Wales. So much of wedding law goes back to the Marriage Act of 1949 and some aspects of the law can be traced back to the times of King Henry VIII! It’s recognised as unfit for purpose and so, in 2019, the government asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of wedding law to look at the “red tape and outdated rules around weddings”. The final report was published in July 2022.

So what are the proposals?

The report covered ‘weddings law’ which covers all of the formalities which a couple is required to go through in order to have a legally recognised marriage. It includes the preliminaries to the wedding (also known as giving notice), rules about the ceremony itself, including where it can take place, who must attend and what must be said, and the registration of the marriage.

That all sounds very dry and legal – what does this mean for our wedding?

forward as a bill to parliament, and this may not be until 2025. But change is in the air, and there is great support for these recommendations to go ahead.

The exciting takeaway is that couples will no longer be limited to using a licensed building as a venue for their wedding. The proposals are for regulation of the officiant rather than a building. More and more couples are looking to have their ceremony in a place that has meaning for them: a beach, garden or a field on the family farm, and to have a ceremony with more personalised content than is currently available within a legal wedding ceremony. These proposals will allow couples to have the legal ceremony they want, rather than making compromises on location or content.

The legal preliminaries will change: Anglican preliminaries (banns) will remain with some reforms and civil preliminaries will begin with the initial notice being given online, with an in-person interview at least five days before the schedule (legal document which will take the place of the register) is issued. Notices would be published online rather than in the register office.

The Law Commissioners recommend the development of five categories of officiant. These include Anglican clergy, registration officers and nominated officiants (from other religions), who are able to undertake legal weddings under the current law, albeit under the buildings registration and licensing rules. The two additional categories are maritime officiants (allowing weddings on cruise ships for example), and independent celebrants.

The nominated officiants category would be expanded to included non-belief organisations (such as humanists) in addition to belief organisations (faith groups). Independent celebrants, registration officers and maritime officiants would each be able to perform civil weddings, with nominated officiants and Anglican clergy performing belief or non-belief weddings. It will be for the government to decide who can fulfil these officiant roles.

The ceremony proposals are equally radical. There would be a common set of duties and responsibilities for all officiants, and the same rules would apply to all groups and all weddings. Civil weddings would be allowed some religious content whilst still being identifiably secular.

We are awaiting the government’s interim response to these proposals early in 2023 and a full response should be made by July 2023. Should these proposals go ahead it really will be ‘your ceremony – your way’. You will be able to choose a location that means something to you and you will be able to work with your chosen officiant to create a ceremony full of meaning to you both. As independent celebrants, we are excited at the prospect of these changes to the law, and we look forward to conducting many more bespoke ceremonies in every corner of our beautiful county.

Beauty

KH Bridal 07748 847055 khbridal.com

Bridal wear

Bliss Bridal Gowns 01637 851163 blissbridalgowns.com Bridal Gossip 07476 786731 bridalgossip.co.uk Coastal Bridal 07476 099959 coastalbridal.co.uk Frocks & Frills 01326 341276 frocksfrills.co.uk St Ives Bridal Boutique 01736 799413 stivesbridalboutique.co.uk

Catering, cakes & bars

Absolute Chocolate 01872 540650 absolutechocolatefountains.co.uk Beautiful and the Feast beautifulandthefeast.com Beetham Food 01872 501002 beethamfood.co.uk Crafty Cakehole 07948 206639 craftycakehole.co.uk Good Food Catering Company 01840 211118 thegoodfoodcateringco.co.uk Kernowforno 07824 325633 kernowforno.co.uk Partington’s Bar Company 07896 573907 partingtonsbarcompany.co.uk Peboryon 07807 153091 peboryon.com The Buffalo 07931 266900 thebuffalo.co.uk

Celebrants

Cornish Celebrants 07716 992526 cornishcelebrants.co.uk Fiona Solomon 07527 081872 fionasolomoncelebrant.com Perfect Day Ceremonies 07977 561450 perfectdayceremonies.co.uk

Childcare

Cornwall Childcare 07592 676259 cornwallchildcare.com

Décor

Keeping It Vintage 01209 203291 keepingitvintage.co.uk Stargazey Wedding Décor Hire 07881 863338 stargazeyweddingdecorhire.co.uk Trevarno Marquees and Event Hire 01209 831333 trevarnomarquees.co.uk

Entertainment

Classical Strings 01736 719342 classicalstrings.co.uk Fistral Stereo 07808 588705 fistralstereo.com The Great Little Band 07812 930004 thegreatlittleband.co.uk

Fireworks

Celebration Pyrotechnics 01208 78790 / 07814 014233 celebrationpyro.com Sonic Fireworks 01884 849222 sonicfireworks.co.uk

Flowers

George Mackay Flowers 07852 405311 georgemackayflowers.com The Velvet Daisy 077906 92221 thevelvetdaisy.co.uk

Marquees

Absolute Canvas 01326 375747 absolutecanvas.co.uk Skybar Weddings skybarweddings.com Sunset Tipis 01872 553383 sunsettipis.com Tipi Spaces 01884 277306 tipispaces.co.uk Trevarno Marquees & Event Hire 01209 831333 trevarnomarquees.co.uk

Menswear

Cornwall Suit Room 01209 613366 cornwallsuitroom.com

Photography

Alan Law Photography 07594 847422 alanlawphotography.co.uk Grant Lampard Photography 07943 035436 grantlampardphotography.com Hannah Wilde Photography 07508 596322 hannah-wilde.com Joey Lamb Photography 07470 331337 joeylambphotography.com Nick Bailey Photography 07816 251838 photobailey.com Olivia WR Fine Art Photography 07470 056050 oliviawhitbread-roberts.com Ross Talling Photography 07525 781128 rosstalling.co.uk Stewart Girvan Photography 01209 480699 stewartgirvan.co.uk Thomas Frost Photography 07584 906088 thomasfrostphotography.com Toby Lowe Photography 07800 805081 tobylowephotography.co.uk Verity Westcott Photography 07412 364197 veritywestcottphotography.com

Rings & jewellery

Drakes 01752 227775 drakesjewellers.co.uk Emily Nixon 01736 887599 emilynixon.com Justin Duance 01736 368395 justind.co.uk Michael Spiers 01872 272264 michaelspiers.co.uk Stephanie Stevens 07817 239895 stephaniestevensjewellery.co.uk

Transport

Honeybugs Cornwall 07981 166098 honeybugscornwall.co.uk

Venues

Above the Bay abovethebay.co.uk Atlantic Hotel 01637 872244 atlantichotelnewquay.co.uk Beacon Crag 07815 311291 beaconcrag.com Boconnion 01208 220488 boconnion.co.uk Boconnoc 01208 872507 boconnoc.com Caerhays 01872 501310 caerhays.co.uk Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate 01736 795311 carbisbayhotel.co.uk Carwinion House 01326 653212 carwinionhouse.co.uk Charlestown Harbour 01726 70241 charlestownharbour.com Cornish Tipi Weddings 01208 880781 cornishtipiweddings.co.uk The Driftwood Spars 01872 552428 driftwoodspars.com Eden Project 01726 811911 edenproject.com Fowey Hall Hotel 01726 833866 foweyhallhotel.co.uk The Gannet 01736 795651 gannetstives.co.uk The Godolphin 01736 888510 godolphin.com The Green 01579 362253 thegreencornwall.co.uk Gwel an Mor 01209 842354 gwelanmor.com Heartlands 01209 722325 heartlandscornwall.com Hendra Barns 01872 510884 hendrabarns.co.uk Hotel Tresanton 01326 270055 tresanton.com Hustyns Resort Cornwall 01208 893700 hustyns.co.uk Knightor 01726 851101 knightor.com Land’s End Hotel 01736 871844 landsendhotel.co.uk Llawnroc Hotel 01726 843461 thellawnrochotel.co.uk The Lost Gardens of Heligan 01726 845100 heligan.com Lower Bussow Farm lowerbussowfarm.co.uk Lusty Glaze 01637 872444 lustyglaze.co.uk Nancarrow Farm 01872 540343 nancarrowfarm.co.uk The Old Quay House Hotel 01726 833302 theoldquayhouse.com The Park Cornwall 01637 860322 theparkcornwall.com Pencarrow 01840 250118 weddingsatpencarrow.com Pengenna Manor 01208 612221 pengennamanor.co.uk Polhawn Fort 01752 822864 polhawnfort.com Polurrian on the Lizard 01326 240421 polurrianhotel.com The Rockpool 01736 449990 therockpoolbar.co.uk The Rosevine 01872 580206 rosevine.co.uk Scorrier House 01209 820264 scorrierhouse.co.uk Stennack Farm stennackfarm.com St Nectan’s Glen 01840 779538 st-nectansglenco.uk St Ives Harbour Hotel & Spa 01736 795221 stives-harbour-hotel.co.uk Surf Beach Bar 01736 871191 surfbeachbar.co.uk The Barn at Pengelly 01872 229842 pengellyweddings.com The Gate 01503 262159 thegatecornwall.com Tredudwell Manor 01726 870226 tredudwellmanor.co.uk Tregedna Weddings 07979 645946 tregednaweddings.co.uk Trenderway 01503 272214 trenderwayweddings.co.uk Treseren 07808 581847 treseren.co.uk Trevenna 01579 320013 trevennaweddings.co.uk

Wedding planners

Alexa Richardson at Situ Weddings

situcafe.co.uk/weddings-events Out of the Ordinary Weddings 07900 954051 outoftheordinaryweddings.com Rebel & Anchor 07815 151010 rebelandanchor.co.uk

The Little Details by Sophie

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