‘Legal Marriage is Paperwork Day’: Independent Celebrant-Led Wedding Ceremonies as a Critical Institutional Response to Changing Social Norms

Abstract

Informed by a critical institutional perspective, in this article attention is turned to the choice to have an independent celebrant-led wedding ceremony in England or Wales. As these ceremonies fall outside the current legal framework, it explores how the decision to have a further wedding ceremony in addition to a legally binding wedding may indicate a weakening of legal marriage norms. Triangulating data collected from three focus groups attended by 19 celebrants, with seven semi-structured interviews with individuals who have had an independent celebrant-led wedding ceremony, two key themes are described. First, a mismatch between legal norms which expect marrying couples to take a passive detached role and an expressed desire for ceremonial autonomy including familiarity with the marriage celebrant. Second, a lack of awareness of what legal marriage involves and perceptions of legal formalities as akin to an administrative process which may be easing their separation from ceremonial rites perceived to be meaningful. Further studies with larger samples are needed to determine the extent to which personal and communal validity rather than legal validity constitutes the social institutional form of marriage.