(Edit: this affects England and Wales only, excuse my haste in referring to all of UK.  I will leave the post as is, so some of the comments picking me up on this point still make sense.)

The celebrant community is absolutely buzzing over the proposed changes to UK wedding law - the biggest upheaval in 200 years and long overdue. Essentially the changes move the focus from licensed venues to approved persons. This would widen options for both location and the officiant. For independent celebrants and other belief groups it would mean than finally we could conduct the whole legal marriage as well as the ceremony and celebratory aspects. For couples wanting a unique and personalised ceremony they will no longer have to arrange a separate statutory minimum marriage with a registrar,  followed by the main wedding with their chosen celebrant. And although the recent media coverage focused on “you could get married on a boat”, it should actually be possible to get married in the couple’s own garden or other place that is special to them, rather than just a licensed venue.

But all of these proposals need input from the public before the law is actually changed. The consultation is open until midday on **24th September**. All of the proposals and instructions on how to contribute are here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tying-the-knot-reforming-weddings-law-in-england-and-wales](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tying-the-knot-reforming-weddings-law-in-england-and-wales).

This will affect anyone getting married in the UK in the future so please have your say. The consultation is very detailed and has a lot of questions - but there is no requirement to answer all of them.

On behalf of UK celebrants everywhere - thank you.

Wedding Law Reform - not long to contribute your views