The ceremony

If you don't go to church, hate the thought of a big white dress, or simply want to put a more original spin on your big day, perhaps a traditional white wedding just isn't for you.

"A lot of decisions depend on who's paying," says Kate Smallwood, editor of www.confetti.co.uk, the UK's top website for all things wedding-related.

"Today, people are getting married a little later in life and often paying for much of their own wedding.

"So unless your parents are paying - in which case they really should have a say - it really is your own decision."

The split between civil and religious ceremonies is currently half and half, according to Kate.

In the UK, a religious ceremony is conducted in a church, but a civil ceremony can be in a register office or - thanks to the 1994 Marriage Act - any venue that holds a civil ceremony licence.

This has opened up a wealth of weird and wonderful locations for non-traditional brides to be!

"You can get married on the London Eye, or at loads of football clubs, so if you've got a really big interest in something, you can probably try and work that into your ceremony," says Kate.

Another option is getting married abroad, with around 10% of British couples now tying the knot overseas.

"If you're getting married for the second or third time, marrying abroad means it's completely different, and often more intimate.

"It's also really easy - you can simply ring up, book it, and it's all there when you arrive."

Wherever you decide to get married, church, register office, town hall, hotel or castle, once the question's been popped and answered in the affirmative, you need to choose your venue and book a date quickly.

Many places can be fully booked up to 18 months in advance.

If you're not having a church wedding, contact the nearest register office for a list of approved premises.

Having chosen your venue, make a provisional booking and you will then be referred to the register office to arrange for the registrars to attend your ceremony.

Don't confirm your venue booking until this has been done.

"You can get married on the London Eye, or at loads of football clubs, so if you've got a really big interest in something, you can probably try and work that into your ceremony."

Couples can get married in the church of the Church of England parish where either bride or groom lives. If they are active, worshipping members of another congregation, it is usually possible to be married there.

If you wish to marry in a church that is not local to either of you, you will have to go on the electoral roll of that parish having attended services there six months beforehand. In certain circumstances you can apply for a Special Licence.

If you are decided on a church ceremony, see your parish priest as soon as possible to discuss a preferred date.

Some ministers may be willing to conduct a marriage in church if one or both of you are divorced, but speak to your parish priest before setting a date.

If it is not possible to be married in church, your priest may consider other alternatives, such as a Service of Prayer and Dedication after a civil ceremony.

The normal preliminary to a Church of England wedding is by banns, which must be read in church for three Sundays in the three months before the wedding.

They need to be read in the parish where each of you lives and at the church where you are to be married if it is another parish.

If you are both Catholic, the reading of the banns is as normal but they do not form part of the legal preliminaries.

If only one of you is Catholic, banns are not published and the priest will have to give permission for the marriage to take place.

The legal requirements for a Catholic wedding are the same as civil marriages. but if the church is in a different registration district to where you live, you need to prove to the superintendent registrar that the church is your normal place of worship. The Catholic church does not recognise a civil divorce.

The only way to divorce within the Church is to receive an annulment.

A limited number of priests are willing to offer a church blessing to a couple if one of them is divorced, especially if they are both regular churchgoers.

"If you are decided on a church ceremony, see your parish priest as soon as possible."