Wedding law reform consultation launches: the biggest shake-up to marriage law in 200 years

The UK government has opened its public consultation on wedding law reform, the biggest overhaul of how couples marry in England and Wales in almost two hundred years. Published today, 16 July 2026, the consultation asks, amongst other things, a question independent celebrants have been waiting years to see on paper: should independent officiants be given the legal right to conduct binding marriages, in a location of the couple’s choosing?

For AMC members, this is not a distant policy update. It follows on from our earlier coverage of the marriage law reform timeline and the £1.1 billion economic case for change, and it arrives with one detail that matters specifically to AMC celebrants: Ofqual-approved training is named directly in the government’s proposed criteria for officiant standards.

This article covers what the government has announced, what would change for couples and celebrants, the standards independent officiants would need to meet, and what AMC members can do while the consultation is open.

What the government announced today

Today, the Ministry of Justice launched a ten-week consultation on reforming wedding law in England and Wales, the first fundamental rewrite of the building-based system that has shaped how couples marry since the 19th century. Roughly 470,000 marriages take place in England and Wales each year, under a framework that ties the right to marry to specific licensed buildings and a narrow list of approved officiants: religious ministers and civil registrars.

Justice Secretary David Lammy framed the reform around cost and choice, making the case that couples should be able to marry in a way that feels right for them while stronger safeguards protect the meaning of marriage itself. Justice Minister Baroness Levitt KC went further on the equality argument at the heart of the proposals: “We know the law isn’t working equally for everyone.”

Under the proposals, authorisation to conduct a legal marriage would sit with the officiant, not the building. That single change is what opens the door to weddings on beaches, in forests, at castles, on canal boats and cruise ships, and in gardens, and it is what makes it possible, for the first time, for independent celebrants to be considered as legal officiants in their own right.

Couples could marry almost anywhere

Under the reformed system, couples would be free to marry in almost any location, provided their officiant approves it as suitable, rather than being restricted to a licensed register office, religious building or approved venue.

The current system has quietly priced people out of marriage altogether. The average wedding in England now costs more than £20,000, with venue hire alone typically running to around £6,000 before catering is even considered. Government-cited research found that cost was a factor in delaying marriage for around half of unmarried men and a third of unmarried women in relationships. Opening up ceremony locations, rather than restricting couples to a fixed list of licensed venues, is one of the clearest ways the reform could bring that cost down.

For celebrants, this is the moment the industry has waited for

The consultation explicitly proposes allowing independent officiants to conduct legally binding weddings for the first time, ending the current requirement for couples who choose a celebrant-led ceremony to hold a separate legal registration on top of it.

Right now, a couple who chooses an independent celebrant for their wedding still has to book a second, entirely separate legal ceremony with a registrar, often on a different day. The ceremony that means the most to them, the one they have spent months planning with their celebrant, has no legal standing at all. Chapter six of the consultation puts it plainly:

“Independent officiants should be permitted to conduct legally binding weddings.”
  – UK Government consultation on wedding law reform, Chapter 6

Sophie Easton of the Give Couples Choice Movement, backed by The Academy of Modern Celebrancy and The Celebrant Guild, has campaigned on this point for years. She said:

As part of the consultation. The Government has proposed that independent officiants be permitted to conduct legally binding weddings as part of a reformed wedding framework. This would create a more flexible and inclusive system, provide greater choice for couples and establish a level playing field for different types of ceremony.

“This has taken so many years of campaigning! We’re absolutely delighted with the government’s stance.”
  – Sophie Easton, Give Couples Choice Movement

Nothing is decided yet. This is a consultation, not legislation, and the government is explicit that it wants to hear from celebrants, couples and the wider industry before it settles the detail. But the direction of travel, after years of delay, is now on paper.

What standards would independent celebrants need to meet

Under the government’s proposed approach, independent officiants would need to belong to a recognised, regulator-approved membership organisation responsible for verifying their training, monitoring their conduct and re-authorising them periodically, rather than being individually licensed by the state.

The consultation sets out what it would expect from those membership organisations. They would need to be a legally registered UK body with clear governance and demonstrable financial stability, and they would need to run a robust process for accepting officiants. That means proving officiants have completed recognised training (the consultation gives Ofqual-approved courses as an example), keeping up with ongoing professional development, operating under a formal code of conduct, renewing authorisation every five years, and holding adequate liability insurance.

Why this is good news for AMC members

AMC already holds Ofqual-registered provider status, the exact kind of training standard the consultation names as an example benchmark for officiant training. AMC graduates also receive three months’ free membership to The Celebrant Guild on completion of their course, giving them a direct route into the kind of recognised membership body this reform is built around.

If the proposals go ahead as drafted, AMC members would already be training and working to the standards being discussed, rather than starting from scratch once the law changes.

The economic case for marriage law reform

The Law Commission estimates that a 3% increase in the number of weddings following reform could generate around £139 million in additional annual spending, contributing more than £238 million to the UK economy over the next decade.

That builds on the wider £1.1 billion net benefit modelled across a full decade of reform, which we covered in detail in our earlier analysis: Wedding Law Reform Will Boost UK Economy By Up To £1.1bn. The government’s own announcement adds a new voice to that case: Jonathan Hobbs, managing director of Thames boat operator Hobbs of Henley, welcomed the proposals after two decades of lost wedding bookings to venues that could offer a single, legally recognised ceremony on site. It’s a reminder that this reform reaches well beyond celebrants, into venues, hospitality and tourism businesses across the country.

What happens next

The consultation is open to the public and runs for ten weeks, from 16 July to 24 September 2026, after which the government will analyse responses before deciding how the reforms will work in practice. You can read and respond to the consultation directly on GOV.UK.

This is the point in the process where responses genuinely shape the outcome. Our earlier coverage of Professor Russell Sandberg’s analysis still holds: cautious language elsewhere in government communications has, in the past, been used to justify legalising Humanist marriage while independent celebrants are left out. A strong, consistent response from the celebrant community is what closes that gap.

Here’s what AMC members can do while the consultation is open:

• Respond to the consultation directly, whether as a working celebrant, a trainee, or someone who has used a celebrant for their own wedding.
• Contact your local MP to explain, in your own words, what it would mean for couples in their constituency to have their ceremony legally recognised on the day it actually happens.
• Get involved through The Celebrant Guild and the Give Couples Choice Movement, which are coordinating a unified celebrant voice throughout the consultation period.

Ready to train to the standard the government is already pointing to?

Not sure if celebrancy is the right move for you? Take the free celebrant quiz and find out. Already decided? Explore Wedding Celebrant Training and start training with an Ofqual-registered provider today.