Marriage in Regency England

Ah, the ringing of wedding bells! A lovely, romantic sound. It always conjures in my mind true love and happily ever after. The hope of a bright future awaiting the couple probably isn’t much different now than it was centuries past. But the way people married has evolved over the years. In Regency England, a couple could get married one of three ways: they could marry in a church after the reading of The Banns,…

Marriage in Regency England–Licenses and special licenses

English marriage, and the methods in which one could place one’s neck in the “parson’s noose,” underwent a number of changes just prior to the Regency. They changed again during the Victorian Era. Though a Special License appears frequently in romance novels, during the Regency Era, it was issued rarely, and only under extenuating circumstances. Let’s explore the licenses available to begin wedded bliss. Putting up the Banns During the Regency, the most common way…