When Amy Hicks and Michaela Francis get married this summer under the shadow of a 400-year-old West Sussex oak tree, they will join the fastest growing group of newlyweds – humanists.

According to newly obtained figures compiled by the charity Humanists UK, humanist weddings have increased by a massive 266% over the last decade and a half, while most faith-based English and Welsh marriage ceremonies fell sharply.

The latest ONS data tracks different types of weddings – religious and secular – from 2004 to 2016. It revealed that Church of England weddings fell by 28%, Catholic weddings by 34% andBaptist by 42%. The ONS does not record humanist ceremonies.

Humanists UK says 287 humanist weddings took place in 2004, in 2016 this had increased to 1,051.

Francis, a primary school teacher in Brighton, said humanist weddings were more appealing “not only because we happen to be atheists but also because humanism recognises everyone as equal”.

Hicks, who works in further education, put the surge down to “a generational thing …it’s about people who don’t need a God to tell them to be nice, to be a good citizen, to care for others and look after our environment”.

But Hicks and Francis’s big day will not be legally binding. Theirs, and all other atheist/agnostic unions, are not legal in England and Wales – unlike in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Twenty-four hours before the couple exchange rings in front of 70 guests they will have to go through a perfunctory “official” wedding at the registry office in Brighton town hall.

Hicks, 30, said that as well as the extra costs (£300) for a “double-ceremony”, they feel they are being discriminated against.

“We are having our ceremony on 10 August in front of all our family, friends, loved ones, but the law is forcing us to go through a prior ceremony at the registry office so it is legal. This means on the day before, having to put the rings on in Brighton town hall, and then what? Do we take the rings off for 24 hours so we can put them back on again at our own chosen ceremony on the Saturday? This is when we should be married in every way, including being legally wed,” she said.

Humanists UK’s chief executive, Andrew Copson, said they had been startled by the increase in humanist weddings. “We knew from the huge popularity of our funerals that there was enormous public appetite for humanist ceremonies but the scale of the demand for weddings, especially in the last 15 years, has blown us away.

“In a way it is a demonstration of what we know about today’s society – many people are humanist in their approach to life without knowing the word. They’re not religious but they want a ceremony at one of the most important moments in their lives that reflects the positive beliefs and values they hold.”

The veteran broadcaster and atheist campaigner Joan Bakewell backed Humanists UK’s demand for the Department of Justice to allow couples’ own wedding ceremonies to be legalised.

“It is high time such marriages were given full recognition by the state … so that couples are not obliged to go through a civil registrar marriage as well, which are not only devoid of meaning for them, but take up unnecessary time and money,” she said.

Francis and Hicks said that while they were not religious, they wanted a special occasion that “celebrated the story of us, of our relationship and of our lives”.

Their ceremony at Patrick’s Barn in Chiddinglye, West Sussex, amid hay bales and rows of Californian Redwood trees, will involve readings and lyrics from their favourite songs, including Wendy Cope’s poem A Vow.

As for their wedding rings, Francis said: “We want everyone gathered to pass our rings around, touch them, warm them, say words of love over them before they are passed back to us for that moment when we put them back on our fingers.”



• This article was amended on 13 June 2019. An earlier version implied that the figures for humanist weddings were recorded by the ONS. In fact they were compiled by Humanists UK.