A new type of marriage could be introduced in Scotland under plans aimed at reflecting the growing popularity of ceremonies such as humanist weddings.
The Scottish Government wants to create a third category of marriage, called "belief" marriages, as an alternative to religious and civil ceremonies.
Plans to enshrine the new category in statute are set out in a consultation paper on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill, which also contains proposals to introduce same-sex marriage.
Last year, 2,486 couples were married by humanist celebrants in Scotland, well up from the 82 couples who did so in 2005.
Some 1,729 couples chose to be married by the Catholic Church last year, and the Church of Scotland joined 5,557 couples in marriage over the same period.
Currently, there are two types of marriage ceremony in Scotland - civil and religious.
Since June 2005, celebrants belonging to the Humanist Society of Scotland have been authorised on a temporary basis to solemnise marriage.
Such marriages have been classed as "religious" under marriage law, despite the beliefs of such organisations being non-religious - a situation the draft Bill aims to alter.
Under the proposals, the arrangements for authorising belief celebrants would be along the same lines as those for authorising religious celebrants. The proposals also set out the arrangements for authorising belief celebrants to solemnise same-sex marriage.
"The system will be opt-in and bodies and celebrants will have to choose to take part in same-sex ceremonies," the document states.
