Marriage Law in England & Wales Is Stuck in 1836. Let's Fix That.
The law that decides whether your wedding actually counts in England and Wales was written in 1836. That's not a typo. Eighteen. Thirty. Six. Queen Victoria hadn't even been crowned yet. There were no cameras, no cars, and definitely no one asking “but will the venue have good lighting for the ceremony photos.” And yet here we all are, in 2026, still getting married under rules built for people who thought leeches cured headaches.
Anyway. Good news: someone finally noticed.
So what's actually going on?
On 16 July 2026 the government opened a public consultation called Tying the Knot, the biggest shake-up to wedding law in basically 200 years. And it's asking the exact question independent celebrants have been screaming into the void about for years: what if the law regulated the person marrying you, instead of the building you're standing in?
Groundbreaking, I know. A wedding law that makes sense.
Here's the actual problem it's trying to solve. Right now, if you want me (or any independent celebrant) to lead your ceremony, that ceremony isn't legally binding on its own. You also have to pop to a register office and do a separate, more official (or boring) version to make it count. Two ceremonies. Double the admin. Extra cost. All so the government can be sure you're really, truly married, as if the first ceremony where you cried through your own vows somehow didn't count.
Under the proposed reforms, that whole setup gets binned. Instead of the law asking “where is this happening,” it asks “who's running the show.” Authorised officiant, anywhere you like. A beach, a barn, your nan's garden, a boat, wherever. And it's legally yours. One ceremony. Fully real. Fully you.
Why I'm going to keep banging on about this
I'm a celebrant, and I was also married by one, so I've lived this from both sides. I've watched couples get so excited at the idea of having a ceremony that truly reflects who they are and then watched that little flicker of “oh right, we still have to go make it official” cross their faces afterwards. It doesn't ruin the day. But it does chip away at it a bit, and nobody should have to feel that on their wedding day.
To be clear, this isn't a dig at register offices. Registrars do genuinely beautiful ceremonies, and plenty of people want exactly that. This is about the couples who want something else, and currently aren't legally allowed to have it be The Real Thing. It's not registrars versus celebrants. It's about not forcing anyone to choose between “legal” and “actually feels like us.”
Before you get too excited…
Nothing has changed yet. This is a consultation, not a new law dropping tomorrow. You still can't legally marry on a clifftop next weekend, sorry. If it goes ahead, we're realistically looking at a fair while before any of this becomes actual law. But this consultation is the bit that decides whether it happens at all, and consultations are only as loud as the people who bother to respond to them.
Here's what you can actually do about it
This is the important part, so don't just nod along and scroll past:
● You don't need to be a celebrant to respond. Couples, past clients, wedding suppliers, anyone with an opinion on how people should be allowed to get married, you're all invited.
● You can find the consultation here on GOV.UK
● It closes 11:59am, 24 September 2026. Not miles away.
● MPs actually read these. Volume matters. Your five minutes genuinely counts.
So if you've ever thought your wedding should be led by the person you actually want, somewhere that actually means something to you, now's the time to have your say.
Go do it. Send this to someone getting married. Let's make some noise while it counts!
