There are now a huge number of venues, from hotels to theme parks, that are licensed to host civil weddings. There are many advantages in having your civil wedding ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast, disco or live band in the evening and accommodation for the night at one venue.
When it comes to the civil ceremony itself, there isn’t very much difference between it and a church wedding.
There is the usual wait for the bride, the bridal procession, signing the register and the bride and groom’s exit in just the same way as for a church wedding ceremony. However, one area that needs to be noted is the choice of music.
Music that has a religious connection, pieces such as ” Jesu Joy” or “Ave Maria” are not allowed in a civil ceremony in England and Wales. Please check with your registrar for the regulations in your area. Also, no alcohol is allowed in the civil ceremony room or bar that is selling alcohol is allowed to be open in the ceremony room.
Regulations change and evolve over time, an example of this is the civil partnership ceremony.
When choosing the music for your civil wedding ceremony, take into account the setting, the mood that you would like to create and also whether you are using live musicians , for example a flute and guitar, harpist or string quartet. Some pieces are more suitable for a string quartet than a harpist, however, a flute and guitar will probably be the most versatile at playing most styles of music.
For more information about choosing pieces, please go to the civil wedding music page.