Britpick Question

[amberfocus]

What are the wedding rules in England?  I know you can't get married in a park or at home or I'm thinking outdoors.  Also, why not?  So where is it allowed besides churches?  And who may preside besides a priest or a minister?  Thanks.

Comments

[salimali.livejournal.com]

I don't know why we can't get married in those places, but most indoor venues can apply for a license to hold a wedding ceremony, usually hotels, large houses, castles etc. A registrar is then employed to conduct the 'civil ceremony' and its lasts about 30 mins approx.
Hope this is ok for you

[electrictoes.livejournal.com]

You can get married anywhere that as a marriage license. Which is why you can't get married at home (I think).
So you can get married in registry offices, churches, a lot of hotels, old sort of manor houses and castles & whatnot have licenses too.
I think you can even get married at Epsom Downs racecourse. It's quite random.
And yeah, you can just hire a registrar to conduct the service.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

You can't get married outside or at home in England??? How weird! I never knew that...

[doctorsdiva.livejournal.com]

You can only be married in a permanent structure that has been licenced for marriages, but this can be in lots of places, hotels, pubs, village halls you name it. ~~The person who undertakes the ceremony is called a registrar and they are employed by the local councils as civil servants. You have to go along to your local register office and give notice of your intent to marry. That's easy if it's your local office you want to get married at, if you want to marry outside the area you live in you have to live there for 6 consecutive days in order to be married at another register office (I know this cos my love and I had to go to York for a week stay in a hotel and prove we had been there in order to get married at the register office there.
Outside visits are arranged by the venue itself and lots of places offer the whole package, wedding reception, and honeymoon.

Oh anda civil wedding is not allowed to have any religious content, so no bible readings or music that mentions God. We ha "Lightening striking again" by Klaus Nomi - very camp, very funny:)