Hi Elsie,
Yes, we sure do need the rain! Hoping for some tomorrow night as promised, but not really expecting any
.
I found this which may explain:
Marriages normally took place following the reading of banns in a couple’s home parish on three successive Sundays. However, they could also be ‘by licence’, dispensing with the requirement for reading the banns and enabling the marriage to take place more quickly, and without publicity.
The majority of those issued were common licences, but some were special licences: the latter allowed for a marriage service to be performed in a church or chapel not normally licensed for weddings, or outside the normal hours.
Reasons for applying for a marriage licence varied. One was speed - useful for people perhaps going abroad or expecting babies (Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway applied for an Archbishop’s Licence seven months prior to their first baby being christened). Another was confidentiality: dispensing with the requirement to announce wedding banns meant that people could marry (or indeed, as was often the case, re-marry) more discreetly.
Hope that helps. I also vaguely remember reading (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that it was more expensive to marry by licence, so your couple may not have been short of money.
