The Civil Partnership Act 2004 finally came into force in 2005, paving the way for thousands of same-sex couples to begin planning for, what has increasingly become known as a gay wedding.
That same december, entertainer Sir Elton John married his long-term partner, film producer David Furnish
in a much publicised civil partnership in Windsor. It was one of the first civil partnerships to be celebrated
in UK history and the ceremony was conducted by the same registrar who presided over the civil wedding ceremony
of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
A civil partnership is a celebration of the union of two people of the same sex who have chosen to devote their lives together.