"Goin' to the chapel" or are we?: Wedding venues & the law in Ireland

Prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, upwards of 40,000 people got married in Ireland annually. Given that this number has fallen significantly in 2020 and 2021, the number of weddings celebrated in 2022 and thereafter will likely increase even further. The weddings industry is a small but increasingly recognised sector of Ireland’s wider economy with Irish weddings reported to cost, on average, €25,000.1 However, notwithstanding that it is of significant importance to many people every year, Irish weddings law – located in the Civil Registration Act 2004 (as amended) – has attracted scant academic attention to date.