Wedding law in England and Wales is badly out of date.
We campaign for marriage to be equally open to all, regardless of religion or belief.
Time for one wedding law for all.
In England and Wales, different laws apply depending on whether a wedding is Anglican, Jewish, Quaker, another religion or not religious at all (a civil wedding or partnership).
This is unfair, confusing and absurd.
Most religious weddings must be held in a registered place of worship, while civil weddings and partnerships must take place in approved premises. Jewish and Quaker weddings can take place anywhere.
This system leads to inequality. Members of religions which don't have fixed places of worship, or don't use their places of worship for weddings, are disadvantaged. And members of nonreligious communities such as Humanism have no way of getting legally married according to their philosophical beliefs.
The process for a place of worship to register itself for marriage is much cheaper than for approved premises for civil ceremonies. This in turn contributes to the cost of civil marriages and partnerships.
Over 80% of opposite-sex marriages in England and Wales in 2022 were civil marriages. But only 16% of recognised wedding venues in England and Wales can hold civil marriages. The remaining 84% are religious venues.
While approved premises for civil weddings and partnerships must by law hold ceremonies for same-sex couples, this is not the case for places of worship. In 2022, only 2% of places of worship were registered for same-sex weddings. This considerably reduces the options for same-sex couples. Whereas opposite-sex weddings are in slow decline, same-sex weddings are increasing.
UPDATE: The Law Commission has now made its final recommendations on reforming wedding law on England and Wales. Please write to your MP in support of the recommendations...
Unregistered religion-only 'marriages'
The complexity of marriage law may contribute to the rise in couples who have religious 'wedding' ceremonies that are not legally-binding.
A signification proportion of Muslim couples are in an Islamic 'nikah' union lacking the full legal rights and protections of a recognised marriage.
Unregistered marriages can undermine women's rights in particular. If a woman in a nikah is 'divorced' suddenly, or against her wishes, she can be left homeless and without any money or assets.
The situation is made worse by sharia councils or 'courts' which dispense religious rulings on Islamic marriage, child custody and divorce. These are not courts of law but there are concerns some Muslim women, especially those not born in the UK or unable to speak English, perceive them as having real legal authority.
Sharia councils leave children vulnerable and discriminate openly against women. To seek a religious divorce a woman must gain permission from these almost entirely male councils, and there are reports of women being denied this request even in cases where they have faced abuse.
Reforming wedding laws will not solve these problems completely. But making wedding laws simpler and fairer can encourage couples to gain the legal protections of a registered marriage.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Tell your MP to support the Law Commission's recommendations for wedding reform.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Kentucky clerk acting under “God’s authority” in defying court over gay marriage
Posted: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 12:58
A county clerk in Kentucky has persisted in denying same-sex couples marriage licenses, in open defiance of a federal court order.
Kim Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, said that she was acting with "God's authority". On Monday 31 August a one-line court ruling denied Davis' application for a stay, however she continued to fail to grant licenses.
Davis was then confronted by a gay couple about her continuing refusal to issue marriage licenses and when asked why she was not complying with the order, said "because I'm not".
She was then asked under "whose authority" she was refusing to issue marriage licenses when Davis replied that she was acting "under God's authority".
The clerk is now in direct defiance of the US Supreme Court and has said that any "validation" of same-sex marriage on her part would "forever echo in her conscience".
US District Judge David Bunning said that Davis has violated the First Amendment's wall of separation between church and state by "openly adopting a policy that promotes her own religious convictions at the expense of others."
One of Davis' supporters, Pastor Randy Smith, said that God has "higher authority than the Supreme Court." He said that same-sex marriage was an "abomination".
Davis has been described by her lawyer as a Christian with "sincerely held religious belief that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, only." However she has been called an "unlikely" candidate to wage a culture war, after it emerged that she has been married four times and given birth to children outside of marriage.
Sikh Federation UK refuses to condemn “thugs” who forcibly stopped an interfaith marriage
Posted: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 11:55
Sikh Federation UK, the "leading" Sikh lobbying organisation, has refused to condemn the actions of a group of men who disrupted an interfaith wedding.
The Independent reports that a group of "up to 22 people" arrived at a Sikh temple in Southall on Friday 9 August, while "final preparations were underway" for the wedding of a Sikh woman and a "white, non-Sikh" man. The couple were forced to cancel their wedding day after the gang stormed into the temple.
Sohan Singh Sumra, vice-president of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, told the Independent that the men "were all thugs" who objected to the ceremony simply because it was a "mixed marriage."
Mr Sumra said the group wanted to "intimidate" the bride and groom, and that police had to be called.
The journalist Sunny Hundal later confronted the Sikh Federation UK on Twitter about the incident, and asked them to condemn the actions of the gang but they refused, stating only that what happened at the temple in Southall "should be avoided".
The Sikh Federation said those who "understand" and "respect" the Anand Karaj will "realise it is more important" than the couples' "'big day'".
Mr Hundal warned that "gang-mentality puritanism" would lead to a "Sikh version of the Taliban". He also posted comments made against him by "fundamentalist Sikhs" who objected to his criticism of the Sikh Federation.
He added that instances of "hypocritical and fanatical thugs" arriving to disrupt interfaith weddings were becoming more common.
When asked by Sunny Hundal if they "support or condemn these thugs going around disrupting inter-faith marriages at Gurdwaras?" the Sikh Federation replied obliquely that they "stand by and defend" the tenets of the "Sikh faith".
The Sikh Federation states that it believes "temporal and spiritual goals are indivisible".
A letter published in the Times on 21 July warned of a "recently placed" ban on Sikh temples "solemnising marriages between Sikh and non-Sikh". However, advice from 2007 stipulated that the Anand Karaj should only be between two Sikhs.
Guidelines published by the Sikh Council UK in October 2014 state that "Any person wishing to exercise the choice to marry in a Gurdwara Sahib through the Anand Karaj ceremony must sign a declaration" that "He or she is a Sikh, believes in the tenets of the Sikh faith and owes no allegiance to another faith."
They must also pledge to "endeavour to bring up any children from his or her marriage as Sikhs".
NSS president Terry Sanderson commented: "This kind of fundamentalism is very dangerous. It may amount only to bullying at the moment, but as fanaticism increases it can escalate to frightening levels of violence.
"The Government should stamp down on this now before it gets out of control. They must learn from the experience with Islamism that ignoring the problem on grounds of political correctness will only allow it to fester and get worse."
