London - British couples may soon be able to get married in their home, the garden...or even in the nude.
A wedding could also involve walking down the aisle in a supermarket or leaping from an aeroplane.
Ministers have ordered a rethink in the wake of the legislation that allows gay weddings. The review will look at proposals for sweeping reforms that may permit ceremonies to take place at a far wider range of venues.
It could also let weddings be conducted by non-religious groups such as humanists and naturists. At the moment, couples not having a religious wedding must have a civil ceremony at a register office or in approved premises, which include stately homes and hotels.
Among organisations seeking to be allowed to conduct weddings is British Naturism, a paper published on Monday by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling confirmed.
But the paper said there is concern that liberalising the law could see supermarkets such as Tesco opening wedding parlours.
Harry Benson of the Marriage Foundation, which campaigns to promote marriage, said: “I have no objection to people getting married jumping out of an aeroplane or on a beach as long as they mean it and the marriage is properly registered.
“But some of these ideas are just silly. I hope there will be guidance for the best man at a nude wedding on where to keep the ring.”
The 2013 Act that legalised gay weddings said ministers would review whether “non-religious belief organisations”, such as humanists, should be able to conduct weddings.
The consultation response from the Ministry of Justice on Monday said that humanists were anxious to hold weddings in the open air or at places couples find “meaningful”, which could mean a holiday beach, the place they met, a place where a parent’s ashes were scattered or even a football pitch.
But there was a risk that criminal gangs running sham or forced marriages would move in and that “inappropriate” groups could win the right to run weddings, it said.
“There was a risk that any group, including those with a cult following, could potentially qualify.
“The groups identified as a risk included political organisations, Jedi Knights, Hells Angels, radicalised groups and criminal gangs involved in forced marriage.”
Daily Mail