Can you have a legal handfasting in England or Wales?
If you ask on social media, there will be many who tell you that you can’t have a legally binding handfasting. Which, you will be delighted to hear, is wrong.
Yes, you absolutely can have a legal handfasting in England and Wales!
Where can you have your legal handfasting in England or Wales?
Unlike in other parts of the country, in England and Wales it is not only important who your officiant is. Your handfasting also has to be held at a licenced venue to be legally binding.
And there is currently only one place in the whole of England and Wales that is licensed to hold handfastings that are legal marriages.
You probably suspect why there is a photo of a Glastonbury landmark on this blog post, and you would be right. The one place in England and Wales that can legally marry you in a pagan handfasting ceremony is in Glastonbury, Somerset. The Glastonbury Goddess Temple’s priestesses are licenced to hold legal marriages at the temple.
Sorry, at the Temple, not the Tor. I chose the photo because I just loooove Glatsonbury Tor… There would be too many gate crashers at the Tor anyway!
Can you have a legally binding handfasting outdoors?
During the pandemic, the licensing of wedding venues changed. Any venue’s wedding licence would automatically extend to the venue’s outdoor space.
Sadly, the Goddess Temple has no garden. So your legally binding handfasting ceremony will have to be conducted indoors.
But don’t dismiss the Goddess Temple just yet. It is a beautiful, quiet space just off Glastonbury High Street. A very convenient and picturesque location. And you would get married in Avalon no less. How fabulous is that!
To be honest, if I had known about this, we would have been married at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple. And that’s why I am telling you about it. Don’t miss out like I did!
Even more handfasting options
If this is not for you, there are other options for your handfasting. In my next blog I will tell you about split ceremonies. Follow me on social media to get notified when it is available: link in footer.
If your are open to your legally binding handfasting of your dreams not taking place in England or Wales, then you could just look a little further afield.
And of course I have done the research for you already!
You can find information about how to have a legal handfasting in Scotland and Ireland in my blog here: Are handfastings legal in these 8 countries?
Got Broomstick, will travel!
Regardless of where you are getting handfast, you will not have to do without a photographer who knows their way around a handfasting.
While I am based on the beautiful Surrey-Hampshire border, I travel the whole of the UK, EU and Schengen zone for your perfect handfasting.
You can get in touch and find out how I will capture your handfasting without missing the important stuff only a fellow pagan will know about, via my contact form. Speak soon!
Bright blessings,
Alternative Wedding And Handfasting Photographer UK and EU
