Get married outdoors
We’ve all seen the dream of a perfect outdoor wedding – am I right? But did you know that it wasn’t legal to get married outdoors in the UK until recently?
In England you could only get married under a licensed permanent covered structure. That’s why you sometimes see these weird band stands stuck in the middle of a garden, it’s a licensed permanent covered structure and the couple and the Registrar had to stand under it. Guests could be outside but the couple had to be under cover.
The Government has talked about changing those rules for more than 10 years. And nothing changed. And then something changed. Covid came along. And the Government wanted to encourage outdoor ceremonies. So in 2020 couples in England were allowed to get married ‘outside’ at a licensed venue. But only for a temporary period. The rules were due to change back in April 2022.
What is outdoors?
No-one really knew, there were no guidelines. Could you get married in the middle of a pond? In the middle of a wood? How far would the Registrars walk for your ceremony? We couldn’t get any answers. There was talk of risk assessments. Actually in practice it wasn’t such a big deal. Couples had booked venues knowing where they wanted to get married at that venue when they booked, changing to an outdoor ceremony was not really a priority for them.
Besides, most weddings in 2020 and 2021 were Covid weddings and to be honest, couples were so glad to be getting married, a discussion about risk assessments and what the Registrars would and wouldn’t accept, just wasn’t on their radar.
Outdoor wedding ceremonies from 2022
Speaking to other wedding professional in 2021, we all thought it was possible the Government would take the opportunity to make the temporary change into a permanent thing.
Sure enough, last April they announced that the rule change was permanent. You can now get married outdoors at a licensed wedding venue, you don’t have to stand under a permanent covered structure. Yay!
Outdoor ceremonies at Ever After
We’ve hosted a few outdoor ceremonies since the rule change.
There was Sama and Jamal who had no guests and got married on the river walk in May 2022…such a romantic elopement wedding
There was Stacie & Josh who got married in summer 2022, again on the riverwalk, this time decorated with the arch and extra flowers
And Jo & Simon also got married last summer, near the glade walk where we could set out guest chairs on the lower lawns…
You can see more pics of each of these outdoor elopement weddings by clicking on the links above.
Where exactly?
If you want to get married outdoors, the riverwalk is a beautiful place to think about. It’s long and narrow. It provides a natural ‘aisle’ to walk up, either on your own, together with your soon-to-be spouse or your wedding party.
You could pick anywhere in the garden you fancy. By the ponds, in the orchard, the lower lawns, the riverwalk, by the shepherd’s hut. I’ll come back and do another post about other places you could think about if you want to get married outdoors.
What about a woodland wedding?
Ah there we do hit a snag. Although the woods are just outside the gardens, we can’t do legal weddings in the woods, the Registrars won’t walk across the stream and they need a table and chairs for their paperwork so that has to be provided wherever you get married at the venue.
Photos in the woods after the wedding? Not a problem, we’re a big fan of woodland pics after your ceremony…
Bring ’em on…
And more…
What about the weather?
This is England, of course you need a plan B in case it rains. Because I’m guessing pouring rain isn’t what you had in mind in that dream outdoor wedding – yikes. We’ve got you. Even if you’re happy to get married in the pouring rain the Registrars aren’t going to go along with it so your plan B will be the wedding barn where you, the Registrars and any guests will be cosy and dry. As the wedding barn has an open side, it still gives you that outdoor feel – you’re up close with the elements, just dry and up close. Which will keep the Registrars happy.
So if you’re looking for a truly outdoor wedding – we can help!
If you’ve checked on our handy availability calendar which date you want, email me at [email protected] to reserve it. If you need to check the dates first, swing by the calendar and see what we’ve got that would suit you.
Photos: Clare Kinchin
Flowers: Flowers et al Devon
You can see more pics of outdoor weddings here at Ever After on a blog post I did about them last April when the rule change was first made permanent.
