There may not be as many female as male priests in the Church of England, but if you get wed in a Registry Office, the chances are you'll be married by a woman.
The majority of superintendent registrars in the UK are now female, so are women naturally suited to performing acts that mark important events? And if the church and establishment had not denied women those roles for hundreds of years, would we have a different set of rituals? Rowena Edlin White is a Reader in the Church of England and Cheryl Menzies-Runcieman is the founder of LifeRites - an organisation which helps people devise rituals when they have no formal religious beliefs. Design Your Own Wedding Ceremony, Rowena Edlin White, Marshall Pickering; ISBN: 0551030240, £6.99
