Weddings: Separating Legal Formalities Isn’t A Compromise, It’s An Opportunity

When you start planning your wedding, the legalities of it are very important. But have we made them too important?

Think about the other big milestones in life.

When someone dies, we register their death. It’s an important legal requirement. But it’s the funeral or celebration of life that gives us the opportunity to remember them and celebrate everything that made them who they were.

When a baby is born, we register their birth. Again, a necessary legality, but it’s not how we choose to welcome that little person into our family. We might have a christening or a naming ceremony – something personal and meaningful.

For these milestones we understand that the paperwork and the ceremony serve two very different purposes. So why should getting married be any different?

For many couples, there’s a sense that their wedding somehow won’t be quite as special if the legal formalities happen somewhere else, perhaps a few days beforehand.

But does signing a register really make a wedding day special?

Imagine having a ceremony that tells your story.

One that captures the things you love about one another and the promises you really want to make.

Imagine:

• choosing your own words,
• including the people who have shaped your lives,
• incorporating meaningful rituals
• or simply doing things in a way that feels completely natural to you.

That’s the freedom a celebrant-led wedding ceremony can offer.

But see this as an opportunity, not a compromise

In England and Wales, a celebrant-led ceremony doesn’t currently have the legal authority to marry you. You’ll need to complete the legal formalities separately at a register office.

But see this as an opportunity, not a compromise.

You can take care of the legal paperwork simply and quietly, then give your wedding day over to the celebration you’ve always imagined.

• No need to fit a prescribed format.
• No need to follow someone else’s script.
• No need to feel that your ceremony is limited by what the legal process allows.

And most importantly, it can be about you.

So, what do you really want from your wedding?

I’m not suggesting the legal side isn’t important. Of course it is.

But perhaps it’s time we stopped allowing it to dictate what our wedding ceremony should be.

A marriage is one of life’s biggest milestones. Surely the ceremony that celebrates it deserves to be more than a legal formality?

At Golden Thread Ceremonies, I believe every couple has a story worth telling and that your wedding ceremony should be as individual as the relationship it celebrates.

So before you book your ceremony, ask yourselves one simple question:

Do we just want to get married, or do we want a ceremony that celebrates why we’re getting married in the first place?

There’s a world of difference.