Outdoor weddings to be permanently legalised

Ministers have announced that outdoor weddings and civil partnerships will be legalised permanently in England and Wales.

Previously, civil ceremonies had to take place indoors, or outdoors within a permanent structure such as a bandstand.

However, since last summer couples have been able to hold a civil wedding or other ceremonies outside as part of temporary measures that were introduced during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Following overwhelming support from the public, faith groups and the wedding industry, the Ministry of Justice has decided to make outdoor weddings a permanent fixture.

A government consultation found 96% of respondents backed making the change permanent, with 93% supporting extending it to religious weddings, including every major faith group.

The Government plan to extend this to include religious weddings at a later date.

The Justice Minister, Tom Pursglove, said: “A wedding is one of the most important days in a person’s life and it is right that couples should have greater choice in how they celebrate their special occasion.

“These reforms will allow couples to hold more personalised ceremonies and provide a welcome boost for the wedding sector.”

In addition to these changes, the Law Commission will provide the Government with a report and recommendations in the summer on how to modernise marriage law, including widening the range of locations and whether more types of weddings should be legalised.

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