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What Time of Day To Get Married

A new question will be entering the thought process of brides and wedding planners across England and Wales more than ever before as more people become aware of the relaxed rules on when you can get married in the UK. What Time of Day To Get Married ? I have been meaning to blog about this for a while and with all the talk, discussion and argument at the moment relating to gay marriages as well as forced marriage and international marriage, I thought this would be a bit lighter reading.

Earlier in the year (2012) the thoughts were announced to relax laws on what time you can get married in England and Wales. Up until recently it has been Law that you must get married between 8am and 6pm, as of this October (2012) you are now able to get married by law under the ‘Protection of Freedoms Bill’ 24 hours a day in England and Wales. Scotland already has more relaxed rules.

However; local registry systems area able to stipulate there own timings of services as are religious bodies and local authorities in your area. So can you get married at midnight ? Can you get married at sunrise or sunset ? Well… Yes, you can now get married at whatever time of day you like, finding a venue, priest or registrar and guests willing, may be a little harder but ultimately the laws are now much more relaxed. You still have to give the UK standard 15 days notice, so the Las Vegas style marriages are still a long way off – perhaps for a good reason ?

What next ? My suggestion would be to talk to your local registry authority or church, whichever route you are looking to go down and see what sort of restrictions are in place in your local area outside of national law. You will also need to consider things like noise restrictions at times of day in particular areas and the logistics of other things that may take place before or after your wedding, but theoretically you could have a 24hr wedding day or a backwards wedding with the reception beforehand.

From a photographic point of view the options for weddings at sunrise and sunset in the summer are exciting indeed – the light is one thing – the atmosphere at your wedding completely another. Midnight can create challenges, but you really would have a black canvas – exciting stuff. Ultimately if you are thinking of a wedding at a different time then I would love to be involved in creating something truly different.

I leave this blog on a more formal matter than normal with a few links to the BBC that explain a little more detail about the changes, followed by a few evening pictures from weddings in 2012, night time is such a great time :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12439232

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18662920

Cornwall Wedding Photographer | Midnight or Sunrise-Sunset (1)