The Government’s impact assessment estimates that, when legally recognised, around one in five couples in England and Wales could choose a humanist wedding, more than 50,000 ceremonies every year. It states that legal recognition would give non-religious couples greater choice and improve equality of opportunity. Humanists UK welcomes the Government’s recognition of the profound value of humanist weddings and the joy they could bring to tens of thousands of non-religious couples.
The Consultation Stage Impact Assessment has been published as the Government has set out its long-awaited consultation on marriage reform, which includes plans to legally recognise humanist marriages.
What does a humanist wedding look like in the UK?
Humanist weddings are non-religious wedding ceremonies that are fully customised to match the deepest-held values and beliefs of the couple getting married. They are conducted by a humanist celebrant, someone guaranteed to share their beliefs.
In Scotland, where humanist weddings have been legally recognised since 2005 and over 50,000 humanist weddings have happened since, 22.8% of weddings are estimated to be humanist wedding ceremonies. More humanist weddings are conducted in Scotland than religious marriages of all kinds combined. In 2014, the first two same-sex marriages in Scotland were also humanist.
In Northern Ireland, 15% of all marriages were humanist, more than all religious marriages conducted by the three big Protestant churches, and in 2025 Northern Ireland Humanists celebrated the 5,000th legally recognised humanist marriage.
What does the Government impact assessment say?
The Government’s Equalities Impact Assessment clearly outlines the benefits that legally recognising humanist marriage would have:
‘The proposed reforms would enable Humanist organisations, and other qualifying non-religious belief organisations, to nominate officiants to conduct legally recognised weddings. This would advance equality of opportunity for people with non-religious beliefs by enabling them to have a wedding ceremony that reflects their beliefs and is legally recognised without the need for an additional civil ceremony’
The Government has based its Consultation Stage Impact Assessment on the number of weddings in Scotland, and extrapolated that data to England and Wales wedding projections. They assume 22.8% of couples will marry in non-religious belief organisations (such as humanist) ceremonies, roughly 52,675 annual weddings. This is double the number of projected Anglican weddings.
Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented:
‘This is a hugely welcome moment. The Government’s announcement is a major step towards finally giving non-religious couples the same choice that people of many religious faiths already enjoy. Its own analysis recognises that humanist weddings would be chosen by tens of thousands of couples every year because they are deeply personal, joyful celebrations that reflect who people are and what they believe.
‘Humanist weddings have transformed the way people marry in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey, bringing warmth, meaning, and authenticity to one of life’s most important moments. We warmly welcome the Government’s commitment to recognise them in England and Wales too.’
Notes
Learning more about what a humanist wedding is.
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at press@humanists.uk or phone 0203 675 0959 (media only).
Legal recognition of humanist marriages in local jurisdictions
Humanist marriages gained legal recognition in Scotland in 2005, where since 2022 more humanist weddings have been conducted each year than religious marriages of all kinds combined. They also gained legal recognition in the Republic of Ireland in 2012; in Northern Ireland in 2018, following a Court of Appeal ruling that concluded that a failure to do so would be a breach of human rights and now make up 1 in 7 marriages there; in Jersey in 2019; and in Guernsey in 2021.
In England and Wales, however, humanist couples must have an unwanted additional civil ceremony for their marriage to be legally recognised. A change in law has been under constant Government review since 2013. The Marriage Act gave the Government the power to enact legal recognition of humanist marriages by Order – which would take as little time as 90 minutes in each the House of Commons and House of Lords. But in the years since, the Government has not done this. Instead the matter has been reviewed three times, most recently by the Law Commission, which published its report in July 2022. The previous Government did not issue its response before the General Election was called.
Labour supported legal recognition of humanist marriages by Order since 2014 while in opposition. But now in power, the new government said it needed more time to set out a position while it considered the Law Commission’s proposals. It has now responded and said it will consult on its proposals in 2026 before introducing legislation to reform marriage law when parliamentary time allows. It has now launched that consultation.
Read the Law Commission’s review on Marriage Law and the Government’s response to it and the consultation announcement today.
Read more about our work on humanist marriages.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefiting over a million people every year, and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.