The Marriage Act 1994 (c. 34) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. Introduced as a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning ...

, it amended the

Marriage Act 1949 The Marriage Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo 6 c 76) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating marriages in England and Wales. The Act had prohibited solemnizing marriages during evenings and at night. Since the Marriage Act 1836 i ...

to allow civil marriages to be solemnized in certain "approved premises". Prior to the Act, marriage ceremonies could only be conducted in churches and register offices. "Approved premises", for the purpose of the Act, include publicly available premises which are "readily identifiable" as marriage venues, support the "dignity of marriage", and do not have any official connections with any religion or religious institution. The majority of these approved premises are

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, as well as

stately homes An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people ...

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...

, and leisure clubs. The Act also allows couples to marry in registration districts in which neither member of the couple resides. Following the passage of the Act, the proportion of

civil marriages A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Every country maintaining a pop ...

performed in the United Kingdom increased from of all marriages in 1995 to in 1997.

References

External links

*{{UK-LEG, Marriage Act 1994, path=ukpga/1994/34 United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1994 Marriage law in the United Kingdom