Wedding tune ban shows lack of grace

The famous tune, which reached number one in the pop charts in the 1970s, has been deemed unacceptable by the General Register Office for Scotland.

Recent changes in the law have allowed couples in Scotland to get married by a registrar virtually anywhere they want. However, the new-found freedom doesn’t extend to music, poems, recitals or places with religious connections.

‘Amazing Grace’, most famously performed by the Pipes and Drums of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys), contains the lines: "The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures" and "But God, who called me here below, shall be forever mine."

The ban even prohibits the playing of the theme tune from the hit show Lord of the Dance, because the original is a modern hymn.

Registrars admit the new flexible wedding rules introduced last summer can lead some couples to believe they have unlimited choice of music when planning a civil ceremony at their own venue.

The ban on the tunes emerged last week in official guidelines sent to Meg Duckworth of Fintry, Stirlingshire, who is planning a marquee wedding at home for her 25-year-old daughter Claire, 25, and Thomas Rytkonen, 27.

Duckworth said she was surprised to discover ‘Amazing Grace’ among the list of prohibited tunes.

She said: "I found it very amusing. The guidelines also say you cannot serve drink an hour before where the ceremony is to take place."

The guidelines from Strathkendrick District registrar Lynn Phillips also highlight ‘Lord of the Dance’ as an example of forbidden music.

Yesterday Phillips said she had nothing against the tunes and was just trying to be helpful.

She explained: "We do get asked for them quite a lot. But because a civil wedding cannot have religious content of any sort I felt it worth giving examples. Not everyone realises the tunes have religious content and the law says there cannot be any."

However, she added that couples still had a wide choice of music and readings that were not of a religious nature. She said: "We have had quite a lot of couples who want the music from Braveheart, that was very popular at one point, and a reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin."

Tony Gallagher, registrar at Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, and secretary to the Association of Registrars of Scotland, said the new regulations had opened up a grey area.

"The fact that a ceremony is not in a registrar’s office can lead some people to think it is somehow different," he said.

"But the law is the same for a civil wedding in a hotel or home as it is in the registrar’s office.

"People bring along all sorts of music. We’ve even had ‘On the Crest of a Wave’ from the film Titanic, although some people might wonder whether a film about a sinking ship is an appropriate way to launch a marriage. But we try to be flexible within the law."

A spokesman for the Registrar General said there was no official list of banned tunes, poems or music at civil weddings.

However, he added: "The act is clear that a civil ceremony, wherever it is held, must not include religious content or material which might be considered religious."