Wedded bliss on the beach

Soon it could become reality, if the long overdue reform of marriage laws is approved.

It is a golden opportunity for the island to update its dusty image with some forward thinking and progressive action.

After 100 years of rigid rules, the review rightly offers a more liberal vision: one where couples in love get more of a say in how, where and when they get married.

And why not? What harm is there in a wedding taking place at a hotel, park, home or beach rather than forcing couples to first undergo 10 minutes of form-filling and perfunctory procedure at the Greffe?

If marriage is endorsed by the States as a positive for the family unit, it is perverse for the state to put hurdles in the way of people who are considering tying the knot.

Couples should be able to register online and allowed to give notice of their intention up to a year in advance so that they can set about the difficult task of booking the venue for the reception and the caterers.

Most encouragingly, under the proposals, couples get to choose whether to include religious elements in their wedding.

People are no longer to be forced to choose between rejecting religion entirely or going through every element of the marriage ritual. If you want a church wedding good, if not that is all right too. If you want elements of both at Castle Cornet or Les Cotils, no problem.

It is not a free-for-all. Humanist and other non-religious weddings will be conducted by qualified celebrants, people must be given the chance to object to the union and checks on immigration and other matters are to be held.

But it is a world away from the stuffy regulations drawn up just after the First World War (which were themselves based on the law of 1840).

Reform in this area is long overdue. Handled correctly, it might even become a selling point for the tourism industry with the enticement of sunny weddings held on spectacular beaches.