The traditional wedding had three elements: a religious ceremony in a church or other place of worship, legal registration of the marriage by the minister at the place of worship and then some kind of feast or reception. Marriage meant and still means the legally registered union of one man and one woman, both single. With the advent of Civil Registration, the ceremony part was reduced to a simple declaration before a Registrar followed by legal registration of the marriage, at a Register Office. Licensed venues such as hotels, country clubs and conference centres can now be used by Registrars as alternatives to Register Offices.

Only recently, it has become possible for a same-sex couple to legally register their Civil Partnership before a Registrar at either a Register Office or a licensed venue. Civil Partnership affords more or less the same benefits with the same obligations and responsibilities as Marriage.

Humanist Wedding and Partnership Ceremonies have developed as a means of recovering the significance of a ceremonial act of affirmation between partners and before invited friends and family, without either the intrusion of religion or the often bureaucratic emptiness of a civil ceremony in a Register Office. For Humanists, the occasion is one of celebration rather than ritual but the sense of ceremony is still an important part. The ceremony can take place almost anywhere chosen by the couple, indoors or outdoors.

Unfortunately, as the law currently stands in England and Wales (but no longer in Scotland), Humanist Celebrants cannot act as Registrars to legally register a Marriage or Civil Partnership, as can ministers of religion. In these circumstances, if the couple should want their union to be legally recognized, they get this over with at the Register Office, usually a day or two before their Humanist Ceremony. Some couples choose to dispense with the legal formalities altogether and regard their ceremony as just a sincere affirmation of their partnership and intended long-term commitment before friends and family.

The style and content of a Humanist Wedding or Partnership Ceremony often carry forward some of the traditional elements, including music, poetry readings, perhaps a procession on entry and exit, dressing up in unusual attire, exchange of rings and so on. But nothing is mandatory and the couple can choose what they like. If it is to be a Humanist Ceremony, it will not, of course, have traditional religious content.

Most AHC Humanist Celebrants will be willing to help plan and then conduct a Humanist Wedding or Partnership Ceremony. Unlike funerals for which celebrants can be located via Funeral Directors, finding a wedding or partnership celebrant usually depends on knowing somebody who has had such a ceremony or one of the small numbers of professional wedding organizers that are springing up.

A useful source for planning a Humanist Wedding or Partnership Ceremony is:
Sharing the future: A practical guide to non-religious wedding ceremonies, by Jane Wynne Willson, published by The British Humanist Association.