Civil ceremony

Last updated December 17, 2024

A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary.^[1] In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed by town, city, or county clerks, judges or justices of the peace, or others possessing the legal authority to support the marriage as the wedding officiant.^[2]^[3]

In the UK, a civil registrar ceremony cannot include hymns, religious readings or prayers,^[4] and the marriage must take place at a registered or licensed venue to be legally valid. Many private premises are licensed to hold civil ceremony. As well as each party to the marriage signing the register, signatures of two witnesses are also required.^[5]

In most American jurisdictions, civil registrar ceremonies are subject to the same requirements as religious ceremonies, including venue reservation fees, marriage license fees (for history on fees, see droit du seigneur and merchet ), and age restrictions. The ceremony may take place in many places, including courthouses, parks, gardens, banquet halls, hotels, and other approved venues. Many venues may also accommodate the reception. Like non-civil ceremonies, the formality and style of the ceremony depend entirely on the tastes of the couple.

Scotland: civil registrar ceremonies and civil ceremonies

Civil Registration of all Births, Deaths & Marriages has been compulsory in Scotland since 1855 when the UK government passed several Acts & Bills, effectively to stop the Scottish Traditional Practice of Legal Weddings being performed by communities.

In 1847, The Scotsman said that "Everybody knows that, by the law of Scotland, the marriage ceremony can be performed with as perfect legal effect by a blacksmith as by a clergyman." The government wanted to end the Scottish practice of regarding a couple as married if they stated as much in front of witnesses. Scottish Registration Bills were accompanied by Bills to reform the law of marriage. This was opposed by the Church of Scotland, concerned that the new civil weddings would discourage people from getting married in a church.

In the end, the government dropped the marriage proposals, the session clerks were paid to be registrars, and the Treasury met the cost of the new system. That allowed the bill to be passed by Parliament and approved by Queen Victoria on August 7, 1854. The new system of civil registration started on January 1, 1855.^[6]

Effectively, since 1855, Civil Marriage Ceremonies have not been legal in Scotland, except if performed by an employee of the government, usually in a registrars office. These Civil Registrar Ceremonies are completely non-religious and are not the same as Civil Ceremonies.^{[ clarification needed ]}

You can get married or form a civil partnership in the UK if you are:

16 or over
free to marry or form a civil partnership (single, divorced or widowed)
not closely related
You need permission from your parents or guardians if you're under 18 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Only same-sex couples can form a civil partnership in Scotland.^[7] Same-sex and opposite-sex couples can form a civil partnership in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Same-sex couples can:

form a civil partnership in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
get married in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
convert your civil partnership into a marriage in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Australia

Civil ceremonies were legalised in Australia in 1973.^{[ citation needed ]}

To be legally married in Australia, a person must:^[8]

not be married to someone else
not be marrying a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister
be at least 18 years old, unless a court has approved a marriage where one party is aged between 16 and 18 years old
understand what marriage means and freely consent to marry
use specific words during the ceremony
give written notice of their intention to marry to their authorised celebrant, within the required time frame.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the Marriage (Introduction of Civil Celebrants of Marriages and General Amendments) Ordinance ("the Marriage Amendment Ordinance") came into force on 13 March 2006. It empowered the Registrar of Marriages to appoint civil celebrants of marriages and, to enable a marriage to be celebrated before a civil celebrant at any time and place, other than the office of the Registrar of Marriages or a deputy registrar of marriages (a "marriage registry") or a place of worship licensed under the Ordinance.

Related Research Articles

A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple; a presentation of a gift ; and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs.

A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular.

A marriage license is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictions, and has changed over time. Marriage licenses began to be issued in the Middle Ages, to permit a marriage that would otherwise be illegal.

Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.

Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a devolved legislative matter, different parts of the United Kingdom legalised at different times; it has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020. Civil partnerships, which offer most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage, have been recognised since 2005. The United Kingdom was the 27th country in the world and the sixteenth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. Polling suggests that a majority of British people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quaker wedding</span> Marriage ceremony of the Religious Society of Friends

Quaker weddings are the traditional ceremony of marriage within the Religious Society of Friends. Quaker weddings are conducted in a similar fashion to regular Quaker meetings for worship, primarily in silence and without an officiant or a rigid program of events, and therefore differ greatly from traditional Western weddings. In some respects a Quaker marriage resembles a common-law marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marriage in England and Wales</span> United Kingdom legislation

Marriage is available in England and Wales to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples and is legally recognised in the forms of both civil and religious marriage. Marriage laws have historically evolved separately from marriage laws in other jurisdictions in the United Kingdom. There is a distinction between religious marriages, conducted by an authorised religious celebrant, and civil marriages, conducted by a state registrar. The legal minimum age to enter into a marriage in England and Wales is 18 since 27 February 2023. Previously the minimum age of marriage was 16, with parental permission. This also applies to civil partnerships.

Humanist Society Scotland is a Scottish registered charity that promotes humanist views and offers humanist wedding, funeral, and baby-naming ceremonies. It is a member of the European Humanist Federation and Humanists International.

In Australia, celebrants or civil celebrants are people who conduct formal ceremonies in the community, particularly weddings – which represent the main ceremony of legal import conducted by celebrants –, and for this reason are often referred to as marriage celebrants. They may also conduct extra-legal ceremonies such as naming of babies, renewal of wedding vows, funerals, divorces, becoming a teenager, changing name, significant birthdays, retirements, and other life milestones. Officiating at a marriage requires that the celebrant be an authorised marriage celebrant under Australian law, or the law where the marriage takes place, but officiating at non-legal ceremonies does not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marriage officiant</span> Someone who can conduct a wedding

A marriage officiant or marriage celebrant is a person who officiates at a wedding ceremony.

A humanist celebrant or humanist officiant is a person who performs humanist celebrancy services, such as non-religious weddings, funerals, child namings, coming of age ceremonies and other rituals. Some humanist celebrants are accredited by humanist organisations, such as Humanists UK, Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), The Humanist Society (US), and the Humanist Association of Canada (HAC).

Celebrancy is a profession founded in Australia in 1973 by the then Australian attorney-general Lionel Murphy. The aim of the celebrancy program was to authorise persons to officiate at secular ceremonies of substance, meaning and dignity mainly for non-church people. Up until this point legal marriages were reserved only to clergy or officers of the Births, Deaths & Marriages registry office. These appointed persons, referred to in the Marriage Act of Australia as "authorised celebrants", create & conduct weddings, funerals, namings, house dedications, coming of age and other life ceremonies for those who do not wish to be married or have other ceremonies in a church or registry office.

Marriage in Scotland is recognised in the form of both civil and religious unions between individuals. Due to Scotland's history as a previously independent country, the laws around marriage developed differently in Scotland compared to other jurisdictions that also became part of the United Kingdom. This was partly a consequence of differences in Scots law and also the role and influence of the national church of Scotland, the Church of Scotland. The tradition of couples from England and Wales eloping to Scotland to marry at border towns such as Gretna Green was due to England, at the time, having much higher minimum ages for marriage without parental consent than were required in Scotland. Today the difference in minimum ages is much closer with the legal minimum age to enter into a marriage in Scotland being sixteen years without requiring parental consent while England today allows marriage at sixteen with parental consent but eighteen without.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marriage in Northern Ireland</span> Legal status of marriages and divorces in Northern Ireland

The marriageable age is 16 with parental consent but 18 otherwise. Marriage must be between two otherwise unmarried people. If one of the parties wishing to marry is subject to immigration control, notice of marriage can only be given at a register office, which both parties must attend together. The UK Government was obliged, under the Northern Ireland Act 2019, to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland by secondary legislation that took effect on 13 January 2020. Until then, same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions were treated as civil partnerships. Civil partnerships became available to same-sex couples in December 2005 and grant rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Scotland since 16 December 2014. As family law is not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Parliament has legislative competence to make changes to the law on marriage. A same-sex marriage law was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 4 February 2014 and received royal assent on 12 March 2014. It came into effect on 16 December with many civil partners converting their relationships into marriages, while the first same-sex marriage ceremonies occurred on 31 December 2014.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Northern Ireland since 13 January 2020, following the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act 2019. The first marriage ceremony took place on 11 February 2020. Civil partnerships have also been available for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland since their introduction by the Government of the United Kingdom in 2005.

Scots family law is the body of laws in Scotland which regulate certain aspects of adult relationships and the rights and obligations in respect of children.

Marriage in New Zealand is governed by an Act of Parliament. The minimum marriage age is 18 years, or 16 years with consent of the Family Court. Polygamous marriages are not permitted in New Zealand. There are prohibitions of marriages between some relatives and some who are already in a civil union.

Marriage in Australia is regulated by the federal government, which is granted the power to make laws regarding marriage by section 51(xxi) of the constitution. The Marriage Act 1961 applies uniformly throughout Australia to the exclusion of all state laws on the subject.

Marriage in the Republic of Ireland is a long-standing institution, regulated by various civil and religious codes over time. Today, marriages are registered by the civil registration service, and solemnised by a solemniser chosen from a list maintained by Department of Social Protection. The list includes priests, imams, rabbis, humanist celebrants, civil registrars themselves, and others. The minimum age to marry in the Republic of Ireland is 18.

References

↑ Magazine, B.; Bratten, M.M. (2002). Bride's Book of Etiquette. Perigee. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-399-52866-8 . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
↑ Johnson, Judith (2013-10-15). "What Is a Wedding Officiant". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
↑ "What is a Civil Ceremony Wedding? | Rocket Lawyer". Rocket Lawyer. 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
↑ "England and Wales", Music Not Allowed at Civil Ceremonies (article), Wedding Music Designer (Simon Jordan), 30 August 2015
↑ Mallender, P.; Rayson, J. (2005). The Civil Partnership Act 2004: A Practical Guide. The Civil Partnership Act 2004: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-521-61792-5 . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
↑ "General Register Office for Scotland - 150th anniversary of civil registration system". Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
↑ "Marriages and civil partnerships in the UK". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
↑ "Getting married | Attorney-General's Department". Ag.gov.au. 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2018-06-18.