Lots of Regency based books feature a wedding scene, but what all does that include: Here’s a quick checklist of the idea of marriage licenses, do’s and don’t’s in the actual ceremony, etc. Yes, Lyon on the Inside has two weddings. Lord Benjamin Thompson and Miss Victoria Whitchurch finally have their wedding after Miss Whitchurch came out of mourning the death of her sister, which you learned in book 4, Lost in the Lyon’s Garden. Book 5, Lyon on the Inside, as this is a “romantic” suspense, also features a wedding near the end of the book. Trust me, Lord Aaran Graham and Lady Freya Cunningham deserved a beautiful wedding after all I put them through in the climax of the series. So, what exactly should you, as a reader, know about Regency weddings?

Hardwicke’s Marriage Act of 1753

After this act, it was much more difficult for a couple to marry in England and Wales. First, parental consent was required for anyone to marry under the age of 21, which is a problem for my heroine in this tale, for she is a few weeks short of the monumental date as the story progresses. After 1753, in order to get married, a couple needed to have a license or the reading of the Banns to be legally married in England or Wales.

The Reading of the Banns went something like this: “I publish the Banns of marriage between [Groom’s Name] of [his local parish] and [Bride’s Name] of [her local parish]. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first [second, third] time of asking.”

These banns were read on three consecutive Sundays or Holy Days during Divine Service, immediately after the Offertory. As mentioned above, if one was below the age of 21, he or she or both required parental permission to marry. At least one of the marrying couple had to be a resident in the parish in which they wish to marry. [I did a little fancy two step in this rule because the heroine actually lived in the adjoining parish for a week, but as that parish no longer had a vicar by the end of the novel, I stretched the meaning of residency just a bit.] If the persons came from separate parishes, the Banns were read in both and the curate of one parish could not solemnize the wedding without a certificate from the curate of both, stating the Banns had been “thrice asked.”

Banns were only good for three months, and wedding ceremonies had to take place between 8 A.M. and noon, and they required two witnesses to sign off on the certificate.

A Common/Ordinary/Bishop License was obtained from any bishop or archbishop. With such a license, no banns were necessary and the three Sundays [2-3 weeks’ rule] was reduced to a waiting period of 7 days. Minors still required parental permission, along with a sworn statement of no impediment. That meant the groom and bride were not related to each other in the prohibited degrees, meaning proof of a deceased spouse was provided. One of those marrying had to live in the parish for 4 weeks. Again, the ceremony took place between 8 and noon and required 2 witnesses. A bishop’s license could cost somewhere between 10 shillings and one pound to purchase.

A Special License could be obtained from Doctors Commons and the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury or his representative. This meant the couple could marry at any convenient time or place, but it still required a clergy of the Church of England, an application with the names of both parties [cannot be filled in later as some Regency authors like to say], proof of age, etc. There were NO provisions for marrying by proxy in England, so forget that as a plot point also. A special license was available to peers, their children, baronets, knights, members of Parliament, Westminster Court Judges, and Privy Councillors. They cost somewhere around 20 guineas. To that, in 1808, was the cost of the actual paper used for the license due to the Stamp Act, meaning an additional 4 pounds. By 1815, the Stamp Act declared one would require 5 pounds for the vellum or parchment upon which the license was printed.

The Act also put a stop to Fleet Marriages, legally binding marriages (under both Common and Ecclesiastical Law), that took advantage of a Common Law loophole which allowed couples to marry by a simple exchange of vows. Fleet Prison, a debtor’s prison in London, was the best known place where these marriages could be performed, hence the name. Jewish and Quaker ceremonies were exempt. Clergymen conducting clandestine marriages risked transportation.

Scottish Weddings were had for those brave enough to make a run to the Scottish border. One must recall these were “over the anvil” style weddings, not the Church of England churches that enforced the Hardwicke Act rules. Many visited Gretna Green or Lamberton or Mordington or Coldstream Bridge, just to name a few. As long as one was on the Scottish side of the border, a “hand-fasting” style ceremony which required, at least, two witnesses.