Give Couples Choice Movement
As we come to the close of 2020 and what has been an unprecedented year for all of us, I have been reflecting on the lack of freedom and the restrictions in our lives that have become the new norm for all of us. Who knew this time last year as we were all preparing for Christmas and making plans for the New Year and 2020 that our world would be turned upside down.
This year has really made many of us think about what we want in our lives and what is important to us. There is now light at what has been a very long tunnel for many of us within the wedding industry. In line with that I wanted to write about a change that will be hopefully come to the Celebrant industry sooner rather than later.
The ‘Give Couples Choice Movement’ (GCCM) is a movement run by Independent Celebrant volunteers and has been formed with the purpose of generating support and enthusiasm from Celebrants, couples and wedding industry suppliers to champion fairness and choice for all couples in legal wedding ceremonies. Humanist Celebrants are currently able to carry out a legal wedding in places such as Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada, so why shouldn’t this be made be made fair and consistent for the whole of the Celebrant industry, both Independent and Humanist?
UK Marriage Law
The long overdue review of the UK Marriage law is being undertaken by the Law Commission; it is currently in the consultation stages. Couples absolutely need more choice on how and when they can get married.
The GCCM are working hard to use their passion, determination and voice in order to support the Wedding Celebrancy Commission and the proposals made in the Law Commission consultation paper with the aim of providing a simple, fair and consistent legal framework that allows couples of have a wedding that is meaningful and right for them.
Allow UK Celebrants to legally marry couples
The proposal that GGCM are backing is that wedding Celebrants, both Independent and Humanist will have the right to officiate legal marriage ceremonies across the UK, this is amazing news for our industry!
The GGCM believe that all couples deserve the right to choose the content of their ceremony, whether they have a belief, no faith, mixed faiths, spirituality or wish to include cultural traditions.
They also believe that couples deserve the right to choose where they are officially and legally married and whether that be an Independent or Humanist Celebrant to carry out their legal wedding.
2021 and beyond
So many of us cannot wait to close the door on 2020 and the significant disruption it has brought to our lives. With a vaccine for Covid-19 now being rolled out across the UK, there is hope and there is optimism that our lives will start to feel just a little bit normal again.
There is also now a growing confidence that the wedding industry will start to gain momentum from the Spring onwards. Couples choosing a Celebrant to officiate their wedding in the UK is becoming ever more popular, so surely it is time that our roles are made legal and we give couples the choice and the wedding that they want.
