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World News

'Open air' weddings to be allowed under proposed law

by Kelly Valencia

Couples across England and Wales might no longer be restricted to have their dream wedding in churches or other registered buildings. 

The Law Commission is recommending a major shake-up of wedding laws that would see couples choosing their preferred location for their wedding ceremony, from beaches, to open fields and even on cruise ships. 

Under current legislation, those wishing to tie the knot have to decide between a civil or religious ceremony - leading to many having to do two ceremonies, one that follows the law and one that aligns with their personal beliefs.

For the Law Commission the current laws are "out of date and restrictive." 

Harry Benson, from the Marriage Foundation, told Premier Christian News the proposed changes would also reduce wedding costs. 

"The biggest change here really, is that it's going to make it easier, if people want to have a much, much lower cost sensible wedding in a garden or in a field. 

"So that's an enormous improvement and that will hopefully cut the costs of weddings and hopefully even cut some of the expectations of costs around weddings." 

The report - first started in 2019 after the government included it in its 2018 budget- also recommends allowing couples to choose the content of their ceremony and would apply universally to all religions and civil weddings. 

But some argue these changes risk diluting the religious aspect of weddings almost leading to the commercialisation of the ceremony. 

For Harry Benson this is "nonsense". 

"I think that's pretty much nonsense, because the Anglican weddings will still continue pretty much as they are at the moment," he said. 

"The religious weddings aren't going to change very much. "It's just that several weddings will have the opportunity to add some religious language and as I said, the biggest thing before is that you will be able to get married wherever you want, provided the celebrant agrees to that." 

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We asked the Law Commission to review our current marriage laws to ensure this important institution continues to reflect modern society.

"We will carefully review these recommendations and respond in due course."

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