A new law introduced in England yesterday makes it easier for couples to have their wedding service in a church where they have a family or special connection.

Previously, couples wishing to marry in a Church had to attend it regularly or live within the Parish.
If they wished to marry in another parish, they required a special licence or six months regular attendance there.

Now couples can marry anywhere they have lived for six months or where their parents or grandparents were married.

The Church of England has introduced a marriage measure law that opens up over 16,000 churches to couples and puts this change down to the increasing mobility of society, with many people moving away from the areas where they grew up.