Marriage rites and rights

Recent years have seen extensive discussion about the continuing retreat from marriage, the increasing demand for the right to marry from previously excluded groups, and the need to protect those who do not wish to marry from being forced to do so. At the same time, weddings are big business, couples are spending more than ever before on getting married, and marriage ceremonies are increasingly elaborate. It is therefore timely to reflect on the rites of marriage, as well as the right to marry (or not to marry), and the relationship between them. To this end, this new interdisciplinary collec.

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Contents; Notes on the Contributors; 1. Introduction; I. OVERVIEW; II. CHOICE, INDIVIDUALITY AND IDENTITY; III. FAMILY AND COMMUNITY; IV. LOVE AND LAW; BIBLIOGRAPHY; Part I; 2. Marriage Rites-Trends in Marriages by Manner of Solemnisation and Denomination in Englandand Wales, 1841-2012; I. INTRODUCTION; II. OVERALL TRENDS IN MARRIAGE FROM 1841 TO 2012; III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE STATISTICAL TRENDS IN MARRIAGE; IV. MARRIAGES IN THE DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS AND FAITHS.

v. MARITAL STATUS BEFORE MARRIAGE AND MANNER OF SOLEMNISATIONVI. COHABITATION, DIVORCE, AND BIRTHS OUTSIDE MARRIAGE; VII. REMARRIAGE OF THE DIVORCED-A DIFFICULT ISSUE FOR THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS; VIII. PRE-MARITAL COHABITATION AND DENOMINATION OF MARRIAGE; IX. MARRIAGES BY DAY OF THE WEEK AND DENOMINATION; X. THE SPOUSES' FATHERS ACTING AS WITNESSES TO THE MARRIAGE; XI. DISCUSSION; APPENDIX; BIBLIOGRAPHY; 3. From this Day Forward? Pre-Marital Cohabitation and the Rite of Marriage from the 1960s to the Present Day; I. INTRODUCTION; II. EMERGENCE OF PRE-MARITAL COHABITATION.

III. PRE-MARITAL COHABITATION AS PART OF THE RITE OF GETTING MARRIEDIV…