I'll try and answer some of your points as best I can! :)
Mother's and father's profession doesn't have anything to do with getting married, and you can choose not to include it on the documents if you prefer. It's for family history purposes, so down the line, your descendants can look up your family history. For many years, just the father's profession was recorded (because we live in a patriarchal system), but now happily mother's are included to. I think it's great to have that chance to include parents (if you want) on your marriage documents.
The rules regarding the license of the venue- these rules come from England's rich and varied history. Civil ceremonies (i.e. not in a church) first became an option in England and Wales under the Marriage Act of 1836. You can read more about that here: www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/RQGNews/blog/civil-marriage
The qualifying criteria for a venue to be licensed include:
Your venue and any linked outdoor area must be:
- appropriate for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies, for example, a hotel, stately home or civic building.
- a permanent structure, for example, it cannot be a tent or marquee
- readily available for weddings and civil partnerships, for example, not a one-off ceremony, or a home or place of business.
- non-religious and with no religious connection, for example, no religious symbols, furniture or stained glass windows showing a religious scene, unless you're applying for a civil partnership ceremony.
- freely accessible to the public so that anyone can attend the service or make objections.
- any linked outdoor area must not exceed in designated capacity figure the capacity of the largest certified room located within the venue, even if that outdoor area may hold a total capacity of a greater figure.
And then obviously and restrictions around fire, safety etc.
The marriage certificate listing that the person has been married before, personally I don't think that has anything to do with the concept of failure, but more to do again with family history. Previous marriages may have ended in divorce, but also death. Pretty useful to be able to track names in a country where tradition often means the woman changes her surname. We also have to make sure we are not enabling someone in committing bigamy! You can look here to find out more about how family history works in documentation: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/778094/Marriage_certificates_leaflet_Web.pdf
www.theguardian.com/news/2007/apr/14/guardianspecial4.guardianspecial211
The 'not mentioning God'- well, that's because it's a civil ceremony, not a religious ceremony, and also, because that what the Church has dictated. You can still choose to have a religious ceremony if you want, and many couples will have their legal civil ceremony with the registrars and then have their celebration in whatever faith they hold. You can read more here about why the Church does not allow mention of God in a civil ceremony here: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jun/16/religion.civilliberties#:~:text=So%2C%20the%20reason%20you%20can,and%20responsibility%20for%20interpreting%20God.
A snippet from the article above: "In 2005, the government published a consultation document on proposed changes to the current guidelines. "The religious organisations who responded were unanimous that no readings from religious texts should be allowed, even if they did not directly refer to the deity." The Catholic bishops were totally against allowing religious texts to be used. "Through secular use their particular religious meaningfulness can be diminished," they argued."
Do I feel like a police officer? No, not at all, I think it's a great honour to be part of someone's special moment, and to make that moment happen. Most registrars want to create a happy, special and loving environment, we're not looking for ways to be difficult.
The cost of a ceremony varies depending on where you choose to get married. If you go to a registry office, then it's a lot cheaper than going to a venue, like a fancy hotel and having the registrars come out to you. Different people have different budgets. For example, one of the London Boroughs does a very cheap package, giving notice is 35 GBP and 155.00GBP for a ceremony. It can be as cheap, or as expensive as you want. Different places, and venues, time and day chosen can all affect the price. Have a look here for examples of different costs:
www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/advice_and_benefits/Births-deaths-and-marriages/Register_office_fees.aspx
www.rbkc.gov.uk/marry-me-in-kensington-and-chelsea/marriage-and-civil-partnership - look under 'How much our ceremonies cost'.
Of course, if you choose to get married at a 5 star hotel, then you are going to pay for: venue hire, catering, service, flowers, photographer, videographer, make up artist, rooms for the wedding party, music, taxis plus the cost of the registrar coming out to the hotel etc. Or maybe you choose a cute 'blank hire' venue and you dress it yourself with your home made decorations and mates who play music from spotify onto the speakers and you get cupcakes from the supermarket. Cost is....what you want it to be. But the cost of the legal part- that will vary from place to place, as you can see from my links above.