MORE and more couples are choosing humanist weddings over religious ceremonies because they have little connection with a church, a celebrant said last night.
Figures released yesterday show humanist weddings are on the increase while overall marriage figures are in decline.
The General Register Office for Scotland said the number of marriages conducted by the Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) has ri
sen for the third year running – despite only being made legal three years ago.
In 2007, the HSS conducted 710 legal marriages, up on the 434 in 2006.
The previous year-on-year rise in 2006 was 429 per cent (from 82 to 434), although humanist weddings were only made legal in June 2005.
Meanwhile, since 2005 the number of weddings conducted by the Catholic Church has fallen by 3 per cent while those conducted by the Church of Scotland have fallen by 13 per cent.
Jim Petherick, the HSS convener, said: "We're delighted to see confirmation of what we've known for many years, that humanism offers a coherent ethical structure that lets people take responsibility for their own lives."
And Ron McLaren, vice-convener of HHS, who has conducted more than 40 humanist weddings, said he was not surprised that humanist weddings were becoming so popular.
"The main reasons we are seeing this increase is that there has been a major decline in church attendance and young people feel a bit awkward in engaging with a minister of religion when they don't attend church.
"Around 50 per cent of the 16-24 age group profess to having no religion in their lives.
"As to the ceremonies themselves everyone tends to be delighted because they are so very personal.
"We have no religion or dogma and the service is dictated by the couple themselves. There are no hymns or prayers and the only prescribed part is the legal wording.
"This allows couples to write their own poems and choose music which means a lot to them. One of the most unusual choices was the Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) but Morecambe and Wise's Bring Me Sunshine has proved popular."
The HSS has risen from 12th to fourth most popular option for weddings.
Although classified by the registrar-general as a form of religious marriage, humanism is not a religion, but a secular philosophy or belief system.
One advantage humanist weddings have over others is that they do not require the venue to be licensed but can take place anywhere deemed "safe and decent".
Humanist weddings have taken place in hotels and castles beaches, back gardens and the summit of Ben Nevis.
Overall there were 29,866 marriages conducted in Scotland in 2007. Of these 15,480 were civil marriages and 14,381 were religious ceremonies.
Freedom to choose your own vowsGINA and Paul Marshall chose a humanist wedding ceremony at Guthrie Castle near Forfar on St Valentine's Day this year because it allowed the couple the freedom to choose their own vows.
Both had been married before and Mr Marshall, 47, had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
The marketing and management consultant said: "We had both done the politically-correct family weddings in church but this time, with neither of us being particularly religious, we wondered what else was around.
"We considered a Celtic marriage which led us through the internet to our local humanist celebrant.
"Everything in the ceremony was written by us and it took us three to four weeks which gave us the chance to personalise it and include family and friends, including my two sons.
"It was an emotional day for us and the ceremony added to making it special because there was none of the pomp and circumstance of a traditional wedding.
"We had appointed a friend as a sort of 'master of ceremonies' but he threw away the timetable, saying the wedding was about us and he was totally correct."
The full article contains 660 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
