A and S got married at Holey Moley in Fortitude Valley, a crazy golf place which had been a regular date night stop whenever they were in Brisbane. Set inside an old church and black and white on the outside, it was perfect for their aesthetic and loud and playful inside which was perfect for their personalities!

The brief was to have a day that was fun, relaxed, and open to everyone. Guests were encouraged to bring their kids and there was no pressure to keep them still or quiet. The bride had been married before so knew what she was doing. They planned the wedding in a month! “I have ADHD and challenging is what I need to succeed!” she laughed.

The ceremony was officiated by the bride’s best friend and her mum walked her down the aisle. “My dad got to do it last time!” she said. “We also didn’t do a whole lot of posed group photos as we just wanted everyone to be enjoying their time and not having to be airing around and posing. We had no bridesmaids and I had my other best friend as a ‘bridesman’ instead. We had two flower girls, one was my daughter who was 10 at the time and one was my friend who was 26!”

After the ceremony guests ate tacos, played rounds of mini golf, sang karaoke, and used the vintage-style photo booth. They hired the venue from from 1 to 5pm, with food, drinks, activities and prizes included. It made everything super simple to organise.

“Only do what pleases you and your partner”, A concluded. “No one else matters. When you’re old and your memory isn’t what it was you’ll still always have them to look back on. Literally everyone kept saying they had never been to a more fun wedding. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the entire day. I was genuinely just so happy and chill.”

Feeling stressed about the idea of planning a big wedding? Let Keely and Myles, who planned their New York wedding in less than a month, inspire you!

They met in high school and their first real date was their prom! They got engaged in 2018, but were in no rush to actually make things official. “Even though were were engaged, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to get married”, Keely explained. “I didn’t feel like we needed it to prove anything, and I definitely didn’t want to force a traditional wedding into something that didn’t fit us. But everything changed on his birthday in January. I felt so connected to him and so overwhelmed with love that the next morning I asked him to marry me. His response was, ‘Well, I asked you years ago and I still want to!'” That same week they got their marriage license, and by the end of February they were married.

The day unfolded like their best day ever – just one where they happened to also get married! They walked around the city they love, got doughnuts and pizza, had drinks at a local bar, and did photos on their rooftop and in their living room with their cats.

“We didn’t tell friends or family beforehand because we didn’t want to feel like we had to manage anyone else’s expectations”, Keely explained. The ceremony itself lasted just over two minutes. “From start to finish… it was 2 minutes and 3 seconds. That’s all it took and suddenly I had a whole husband! It was short, a little surreal, and honestly perfect for us.”

There was no reception, and other than their photographer, no one else was involved at all. “It felt like a love letter to our everyday life together. The vibe was a little indie sleaze; slightly chaotic and not over-curated.”

“You can truly do whatever you want”, Keely advises. “There’s no need to fit a mould or aim for perfection. The wedding industry can make it feel like there’s a ‘right’ way to do things or that everything needs to be elevated and curated. The most meaningful moments for us came from simplicity and authenticity. At the end of the day, it felt less like a ‘wedding’ and more like the best version of a day we would normally spend together.”

A 70s disco influence ran through everything at Lucy and Jess’ wedding. The main colour of the day was burnt orange and it showed up in the bridesmaid’s mix of dresses and suits, in the confetti, the bouquets, and across all the self-designed stationery. Disco balls were used alongside vinyl records, which doubled as a guest book and part of the seating plan.

“We made a conscious effort to create a wedding that felt completely personal to us, rather than following tradition for tradition’s sake”, they told us. “A lot of the details reflected our personalities and relationship, from the 70s disco inspired styling and burnt orange colour palette to the vinyl record guest book, retro diner style stationery, and Polaroid photo booth with disco balls and a neon sign.”

They skipped or reworked a few traditional elements. They stayed together the night before because it felt more natural for them to do so and they wanted to wake up together on the morning of the wedding. Instead of a formal sit-down meal, they chose a gourmet BBQ and evening pasties, which gave the day a much more relaxed feel and suited how they wanted the reception to flow.

During the ceremony, held outside with the stunning Wooldadon Estate, their mums presented the rings. They wrote their own vows and worked closely with their celebrant to shape the tone. Bridesmaids walked first to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, Lucy walked with her dad and Jess followed with her grandad. “We wanted things to feel personal rather than overly formal”, they continued. “Overall, we weren’t too focused on doing things the ‘right’ way, we just wanted the day to feel joyful, relaxed, colourful and completely true to us as a couple.”

The reception started outside with canapés and prosecco before moving into the barn. Before Lucy and Jess entered, the bridesmaids handed out limoncello shots while Girls Just Want to Have Fun played. Then came their entrance – they ran in holding cardboard cut-outs of their cats, Daisy and Peggy, to Crashed the Wedding by Busted. “It felt very us and brought a lot of laughter to the day.”

Looking back, there is one addition they would make. “We really wish we’d booked a drag queen! ” they admitted. “We thought of it too late, but it would have added so much fun and colour to the dance floor.”

They also want to see change in the wedding industry as a whole: “We wish people understood that it’s 2026, and weddings are naturally going to be a little different”, they explained. “They won’t always be as traditional as they once were. The main thing we’d love to see is greater inclusivity for LGBTQ+ couples across the wedding space. We were really lucky that all of the suppliers we chose were very inclusive, but we’d love to see that spread further across the whole wedding industry. We’d love more inclusivity and representation for non-traditional weddings and LGBTQ+ couples!”

Chloe and Aaron’s colourful festival wedding in Hull was all about their personalities, their love of colour and not taking themselves too seriously. The couple, who have been together since they were 17, and their three children threw a celebration was full of laughter, games and in-jokes. And despite it raining all morning (even during their outdoor ceremony!) their spirits were not dampened one little bit. “We did not want a traditional wedding as it really wasn’t us”, they said, “we only wanted things we cared about or would enjoy there”

While they stressed about the rain a little, in the end they just embraced it. “The rain actually helped relax the mood for the rest of the day as we felt nothing else could wrong – but we have also been told it felt magical”, they continued.

“Our celebrant did a fantastic job bringing in lots of references to our lives (e.g. gaming, bingo) and we hadn’t seen what she was going to say prior to the ceremony. It was very much living in the moment, like us! Our kids also joined in during the ceremony (especially our eldest, bowing and getting everyone to cheer). It was like we had our own little comedian in the audience cheering us on. And to make it even more memorable, when we walked back down the aisle at the end we were very much covered in confetti – due to the rain it also stuck all over us!”

Luna Moon Events transformed the space with bright, bold styling – disco balls, neon lights, colourful streamers, custom signs, There were chillout areas, a glitter bar, a photo booth, a bouncy castle and games like Beer Pong and Connect 4 which were played by guests all day. They had a children’s entertainer for the kids, who did magic tricks and balloon animals.

“A wedding is about you and your partner and no one else”, Chloe said. “It’s a time to get together with family and friends who you love and want to be there and don’t spend money on things (or people) you don’t care about or who don’t care about you. Don’t tell people about your plans, let them experience the day with surprise. If I could I would re live the day over and over again. wouldn’t change a thing.”

The night ended with the late night stragglers gathered around a firepit singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of their voices. “It totally encapsulating the festival vibe we were going for and was the perfect way to top off the day!”

We keep hearing terms like registrar, religious, humanist and celebrant-led ceremonies. It’s all very confusing! What’s the difference between each option and who actually has the legal authority to marry us?

There are several different ways to get married in the UK, and these vary depending on which country you live in.

Couples who are religious may want a wedding led by a vicar, priest, rabbi, or other religious leader. In England and Wales, broadly, this can be legally recognised if it takes place in a building licensed for marriages. If you’re having a religious wedding, do check that your ceremony will fulfil the legal requirements.

Non-religious couples can choose between having a civil marriage led by a registrar, or a ceremony led by a humanist or independent celebrant, and doing the legal formalities separately.

A registrar marriage ceremony is a civil ceremony conducted by a government appointed registrar. These legal ceremonies must adhere to specific requirements and are held at a registry office or a licensed venue.

If you want a wedding ceremony that’s meaningful and personal to you, and reflects values of equality, compassion, and humanity, a humanist wedding could be the right choice for you.

Currently, legal humanist marriage is recognised in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Scotland. In England and Wales, couples must still have a civil ceremony as well.

What makes a humanist wedding different to a registrar marriage?

Civil weddings are formal ceremonies conducted by a registrar. They are an efficient way to become legally married, but are often very generic, with limited opportunity for personalisation. You may not be able to include personal vows, readings, or symbolic gestures, and it is unlikely you will meet your registrar before the day of your wedding.

A humanist wedding is very different; your ceremony is created with your participation, and is unique to you. Your humanist celebrant will take time to get to know you as a couple, learning about your story and what matters most to you. Together, you will craft a ceremony that reflects your relationship, with no generic script. Humanist ceremonies can also take place at any location and at any time, so you can have your wedding on a beach, in your back garden, anywhere that suits you.

Why are humanist and independent celebrant-led ceremonies still not legally recognised in England and Wales, when they are in other countries?

Marriage law is a not controlled by one single UK-wide system, meaning there are separate laws in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, humanist weddings were read into marriage law in 2005, and since then over 50,000 legally recognised humanist weddings have taken place. Similarly, in Northern Ireland, humanist couples won equal marriage recognition in 2018, and they are now 15% of all marriages.

England and Wales’ marriage law currently only enables civil or religious weddings to take place. However, the Government has announced that it plans to grant legal recognition to humanist marriages in England and Wales as part of its wider marriage review plans. Humanists UK is campaigning for the Government to grant legal recognition without delay.

If we want a humanist ceremony in England or Wales, what are our realistic options right now?

Couples choose to do this in one of the following ways:

1. Either before or after your humanist ceremony, you have your legal marriage at a register office. You need only the statutory ceremony (sometimes called a 2 + 2) which costs approximately £56 (certificates extra). This is the most frequent choice for couples.

2. If your chosen venue is licensed for civil marriages, you can conduct the legal part there with a registrar, and then continue with your humanist ceremony. This is a more expensive option, though, as you will be paying a fee for the registrars to attend.

OK you’ve convinced us this is what we want! What steps do we now have to take to get it all booked in and sorted?

To find your Humanist Ceremonies celebrant, visit our Find a Celebrant page (humanists.uk/ceremonies/find-a-celebrant/weddings) and search for someone local to you or close to your chosen venue. Take time to read through their profiles and reach out to a few celebrants to arrange a chat. This gives you the chance to get to know them, ask questions, and see who feels like the right fit before booking your special date.

About the Author

Deborah Hooper is Director of Ceremonies at Humanists UK. She is also an accredited Humanist Ceremonies celebrant, for weddings, naming ceremonies, and funerals.