Couples are one step closer to being allowed to tie the knot on a beach, in a castle or on a cruise ship after the government finally opened a consultation on weddings law – nine months after announcing reform.

Commencing a 10-week consultation today, lord chancellor David Lammy said: ‘They say you can’t put a price on love – but too often, the cost of weddings puts this commitment out of reach. That’s why I’m reforming archaic rules, so couples have more freedom to say “I do” on their own terms, while strengthening safeguards to protect the meaning and permanence of marriage.’

The reforms could allow couples to wed in a forest, on a beach, in a castle or canal boat, or even on a cruise ship. Couples would no longer have to choose between a ceremony that reflects their religious beliefs and one that gives them full legal protection. Interfaith couples would be able to celebrate both faiths and traditions in a single legally recognised ceremony.

Officiants, who would determine if a location is suitable for a ceremony, will have to meet strict requirements.

Today’s announcement from the Ministry of Justice quotes Jonathan Hobbs, managing director of Thames boat hire business Hobbs of Henley, who said: ‘We welcome this proposed changed of law as our wedding business has declined for the last 20 years as organisers have wanted a one-stop shop venue where the service and reception take place together.

‘The amount of wedding business we have lost over this period when the organisers realise the service can’t take place aboard is considerable. Thank you to British Marine for lobbying so hard to change this situation and give the passenger boat industry a welcome boost at a difficult time for hospitality.’

The ministry said the proposals would help ‘take some of the sting’ out of the wedding bill, which averages £20,000 in England.

The government has taken its time to get around to reforming wedding law: the Law Commission declared in 2015 that the law was ‘out of date, complex and uncertain' and in 2022 published recommendations to create a ‘fairer system’ that would give couples more choice of where and how their wedding takes place.