Report comment

"Sharia councils deal with aspects of Islamic law. They have no legal status, no legal binding authority under civil law and no legal jurisdiction in England and Wales...Religious marriages that take place in England and Wales which are not accompanied by civil registration are treated as non-marriages..."

So, for the marriage to be legal and recognised, get married via a civil ceremony and do what you want under a religious ceremony. Seems to be entirely logical.

The same is presently true of Humanist ceremonies (which my wife and I went through a year ago - legal civil ceremony took place in 5 minutes at the registry office, followed by Humanist service and celebration later).