Research into how COVID-19 is affecting wedding ceremonies

A new research project into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected wedding ceremonies, has just been launched.

The research is being conducted by Dr Stephanie Pywell, OU Senior Lecturer in Law, and Professor Rebecca Probert from the University of Exeter, who are investigating how couples’ wedding ceremony plans have been affected.

The project has just opened a survey to gather responses from couples who married earlier than they had planned, those who were unable to marry during lockdown, those whose post-lockdown ceremonies have been altered or postponed, and those who have decided to marry because of the pandemic.

Dr Pywell said: “We know that thousands of couples have had to make really heart-breaking decisions to cancel or change their wedding ceremony plans at very short notice. We’re trying to gather as many of their stories as possible, so that we can gain a true picture of how the various providers of wedding ceremonies are responding.

“We aim to share our findings with the Law Commission, which will shortly issue a Consultation Paper for its Weddings project, and we hope they may influence its final recommendations. If we discover that particular types of wedding ceremony have been more affected than others, we may contact providers directly, to make them aware of our findings. We also plan to publish our findings in an academic paper.”

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