MS Teams

Title: ‘Don’t Tell the Bride… that the wedding wasn’t valid’

The popular TV programme Don’t Tell the Bride is perhaps best known for showing hapless grooms organising the wedding of their dreams – and the brides’ nightmares. But it may also have had an impact on the way that the options for getting married are perceived. Since March 2015, it has featured only non-legally binding ceremonies and referred to couples ‘registering’ their marriage separately. This lecture will explain why the ceremonies being organised lack legal status and why the narrative of ‘registration’ is problematic. Drawing on new empirical research, it will also explore the broader issues around non-legally binding ceremonies, what the outcome will be for the person who is duped into an unrecognised marriage, and how new proposals for reform will help.