Getting married in 1939

kelliewallace

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I'm researching for a new novel and at the start my MC is meeting her fiancé to get married. I don't want a fancy church wedding so back in 1939, can couples get married at the court house or registrars office?
It's set in Britain. Thanks
 

cornflake

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I'm researching for a new novel and at the start my MC is meeting her fiancé to get married. I don't want a fancy church wedding so back in 1939, can couples get married at the court house or registrars office?
It's set in Britain. Thanks

No, if you weren't married at church, they'd haul you out to the town square and burn you as a witch. ;)

They still do the banns thing in England, at least in parts and/or by choice (I think there are places you can choose, I'm not sure if it's geographic), but you've not had to be married in a church for hundreds of years, if ever. People are married at the registrar's, at houses, etc., and you're talking about less than a century ago.
 

ULTRAGOTHA

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I think marriages in England then were governed by the Act for Marriages in England 1836. I can't find another Marriage Act until 1945.

15.
Marriages may be celebrated before the Superintendent Registrar, but not by License And be it Enacted, That any persons who shall object to marry under the provisions of this Act in any such registered building, may contract and celebrate Marriage at the office and in the presence of the Superintendent Registrar of the District, and in the presence of the Registrar and Two Witnesses, with open doors, and between the hours aforesaid, using the term of words hereinbefore provided, in the case of Marriage in any such registered building: Provided always, That no such Marriage before the Superintendent Registrar shall be by License, and for every such Marriage the Superintendent Registrar shall be entitled to have a fee of Ten Shillings.

16.
Registrar to register all Marriages solemnized before them; Marriage Register Books to be sent to the Superintendent Registrar, and a certified Copy to the Registrar General. And be it Enacted, That the Registrar shall forthwith register every Marriage celebrated in manner aforesaid in his presence, in a Marriage Register Book to be furnished to him for that purpose by the Registrar General, according to the form provided for the Registration of Marriages by an Act made in this present Session of Parliament, intituled; "An Act for registering Births, Deaths and Marriages in England," or as near thereunto as may be; and every entry of such Marriage shall be signed by the Minister or other person by or before whom the Marriage was celebrated, and by the Registrar, and also by the parties married, and attested by such two witnesses; and all such Marriage Register Books, and certified copies thereof, shall be sent to the Superintendent Registrar, and dealt with in ail respects as Registers of Births and Deaths under the provisions of the said Act for registering Births, Deaths and Marriages.
 

gothicangel

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No, if you weren't married at church, they'd haul you out to the town square and burn you as a witch. ;)

My Grandma and Grandad were married in 1939, just before the war broke out and my Grandad enlisted (he was rescued from Dunkirk). My Mam was born in 1940, I've done the maths (if you get my meaning). :)

Just asked my Mam, her parents married in a Registry Office.
 
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girlyswot

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But also, church weddings were often not 'fancy'. They could be, of course, but not necessarily. You'd wear your best dress but not get a new one. And maybe have half a dozen guests or less. Unless you're talking about characters with a lot more money than the average person.
 

TheWordsmith

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Bear in mind that, in 1939, Europe was already finding itself involved in WWII. Even Canadians and Americans were heading across the water and joining the fray. A courthouse marriage would not have been that unusual during this time. Also, however, it would not be unusual for a minister to perform the wedding in the priory or, as girlyswot already noted, church weddings could be as simple as a minister, the wedding couple and witnesses present in the church proper. No frou frou required.