UK Weddings could be legally carried out at Glamping Sites but only if we speak up now
By Sarah Riley | Glamping Business & Retreat and Hospitality Marketing Expert
Inspired Courses ☆ The Glamping Academy ☆ Inspired Collective
If you've ever had a couple fall in love with your site for a wedding, then quietly go and book a separate, slightly awkward legal ceremony at a register office because your land isn't a "licensed venue", this post is for you. There's a genuine chance that's about to change, and the window to influence how it changes closes on 24 September 2026.
What's Actually Happening
On 16 July 2026, the UK Government launched a consultation called "Tying the Knot", described as the biggest shake-up of weddings law in almost 200 years. The main change: right now, a wedding has to happen at an approved, licensed venue to be legally binding. The proposal would scrap that rule entirely and regulate who conducts the ceremony instead of where it happens.
In practice, that means couples could have a fully legal wedding almost anywhere… a glamping meadow, a bell tent, a barn, a woodland clearing… as long as it's conducted by a "registered officiant." No more splitting the day into "the real legal bit" at a registry office and "the bit everyone actually remembers" at your site.
There's also a "dignity framework" attached, which is worth knowing about: it rules out stunt-style ceremonies (skydiving weddings, that sort of thing) but explicitly protects room for warmth and personality: readings, music, informal touches. So this isn't about turning weddings into a free-for-all... it's about finally letting the ceremony happen where the couple actually wants to be.
Why This Matters to Your Bottom Line, Not Just Your Couples
This isn't just a nice-to-have for the guests. It's a genuine commercial shift for exactly the kind of site you run. Hobbs of Henley, which runs wedding receptions on boats on the Thames, has already spoken publicly in support of the reform, saying their business had "declined for the last twenty years as organisers have wanted a one-stop-shop venue." That's the exact position most glamping sites are in today... Beautiful, but most likely legally incomplete as a wedding venue because the legal bit of the ceremony has to happen somewhere else first, unless an expensive wedding license is applied for.
If this reform lands well, glamping sites like yours stop being the "atmosphere venue" and become the whole day... start to finish, one location, one booking. That's a meaningfully different pitch to couples, and a meaningfully different value proposition for your business.
The Part That Isn't Guaranteed Yet
Here's the catch... the consultation is clear that Humanist celebrants will get the right to conduct legally binding weddings. It's much less clear on independent, non-affiliated celebrants... the wider pool of trained ceremony professionals who'd likely be conducting a good chunk of the personalised, unique-venue weddings your sites attract. Whether they count as a "registered officiant" is still an open question, and government consultations settle open questions based on who responds.
That's the part where your voice carries real weight. A venue owner explaining, in plain terms, what full location freedom would mean for their business is exactly the kind of evidence that shapes how these rules get drawn.
What You Can Actually Do About It (Takes About 15 Minutes)
- Respond to the consultation directly. It's open until 24 September 2026. Find it on gov.uk by searching "Tying the Knot weddings law consultation."
- Write to your local MP. You don't need to be a policy expert. Just explain, in your own words, what it would mean for your site if couples could legally marry there without a separate registry appointment. Find your MP at theyworkforyou.com or send a message directly via writetothem.com.
- Share this with other venue owners. The more of us who respond, the harder this is to overlook.
I'm working closely with independent celebrants and glamping and unique-venue sites across the South West, so I've got as much riding on this as you do, on the other side of the same booking. Let's both make sure our voices are actually heard while there's still time to shape the outcome.
Consultation closes 24 September 2026.
Don't wait... do it now!
About Sarah Riley
I've been working in the glamping and retreat space for decades, running a boutique hospitality and retreats business before building Inspired Courses and The Glamping Academy in 2010, to help other entrepreneurs do the same. I'm a professionally qualified business coach and marketing visibility specialist, and I've now helped over 5,000 customers and 2,000+ launched businesses across 18+ countries, from first-time site planning through to marketing and occupancy strategy. I'm also Co-Conference Director of Glamping Show Americas and have had over 200,000 episode downloads for my podcasts.
If you're weighing whether glamping belongs in your retreat business, start with my Retreat Business Startup program, or join fellow owners inside the Glamping Owners Club.
Listen to the full conversation: Episode 269 of The Retreat Leaders Podcast with Shannon Jamail
Got any tips on this topic? Get in touch and let's have a chat.
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Internationally recognised as a glamping business and retreats expert, Sarah helps those who want to leave the day job to run their dream business and change their life, with techniques very few are using in this increasingly competitive industry.