Writing to your MP to ask for their support for independent celebrants in wedding law reform can be extremely effective because:
- It signals to your MP that they have constituents/potential voters who are personally affected by the issue
- It gives you the opportunity to state your case and enables your MP to advocate for you more effectively.
We suggest avoiding the use of template letters as MPs can spot these a mile off and they’re likely to go straight in the junk folder! However, this document offers a starting template for you to amend and add to.
In addition, here are our top tips for success:
- First, find your MP’s name, party and contact details here: Find your MP – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament
- This page will explain the best way to get in touch with your MP, which is usually by email. They may also offer appointment slots or drop-in surgeries where you can go and meet with them in person and put forward your case, which can be much more effective.
- When emailing/writing to your MP, ensure you include your full address, including postcode, at the top. MPs can only respond to their own constituents, so if you don’t include this then your message won’t get read.
- Get straight to the point, be succinct and try to keep your letter to one and a half sides of A4 (or email equivalent).
- Make it clear that this change would affect you personally, but also all their constituents who will marry in the future.
- Have a clear ask – don’t confuse your core message by not asking for something specific or by asking for too many different things at once. In your first email, the ask could be as simple as requesting a meeting.
- If you don’t hear back from your MP within 3 weeks, follow up. Sometimes it takes more than one letter for your MP to understand the issue.
To make things easy, we’ve drafted an email below that you can use as a starting point, but please do adapt this to suit your own style, voice and views – it is vital that your MP sees the heart behind the campaign and hears about your own unique experience.
Your name
Your address, including postcode
Your email and phone number
Date
Dear ____ MP,
I hope you are well. I am getting in touch because my partner and I recently got engaged / are planning to marry, and when we celebrate our wedding we would like to have a ceremony led by an Independent Celebrant. This is because the current options for the celebration of legal marriage do not meet our needs. Add something more personal here to explain why.
We were disappointed to discover that independent celebrants cannot currently conduct legally binding weddings, and so for our needs to be met we will need to pay for two separate ceremonies. We see this as unnecessary, unfair and discriminatory.
You may have heard that in October 2025, the Ministry of Justice confirmed its intention to reform the Marriage Act 1949 and says it will be launching a public consultation on the details in “early 2026”. You can read the letter here: Weddings: Letter from MoJ – Law Commission
The MoJ confirms that marriage law will be reformed to accommodate an ‘officiant-based’ system. However, a key focus of the upcoming consultation will be the question of “whether independent celebrants should be allowed to conduct legally binding weddings”.
We very much support the inclusion of independent celebrants, as this is the only way to remedy the current law which discriminates against so many couples. Allowing independent celebrants to conduct legal weddings would allow us and many other couples to combine the legal and celebratory aspects of their wedding within one meaningful ceremony.
I’m sure you will want to read more about the details and evidence behind this, so please find attached a paper produced by the Give Couples Choice Movement which makes the case for why independent celebrants must be included in wedding law reform.
As your constituent, I would be grateful if you could:
- Confirm your support for independent celebrants in wedding law reform
- Raise this issue with the Ministry of Justice and ask for a specific date for the 2026 consultation
- Offer me some guidance on how best to respond to the consultation when it launches.
I realise how busy you must be, but with the consultation scheduled for early 2026 and our wedding planned for DATE, time is of the essence. The outcome of this consultation will have an enormous effect on our wedding, and on all marrying couples within your constituency, so we very much need your support.
I would be very grateful if you could respond to the points above and contact me to arrange a suitable time and place for us to meet and discuss this in person. (You may wish to change this ‘call to action’ to something else, however you see fit.)
Yours sincerely,
Your name and signature