1.   After a civil wedding at the American consulate in Leningrad, they moved to Illinois where their daughter, Amy was born.

2.   But, they had the typical civil wedding and their ethnic differences mattered little.

3.   In Larnaca, they get the civil wedding that gives them an official marriage license.

4.   On a grass-roots level, for instance, many Israelis are beginning to demand the legalization of civil weddings, which are not recognized by the government.

5.   Why would gay people want a government-sanctioned civil wedding as opposed to the religious or spiritual ceremonies already being performed on both TV and in real life?

6.   Among family guests present at the civil wedding on Friday, there also were top government and ruling party officials as well as leading Romanian businessmen.

7.   Civil weddings held in Israel are not recognized by Israeli religious authorities, who hold a legal monopoly over marriage and divorce.

8.   In the past, civil weddings were conducted for only a few hours a week and Fridays were usually overbooked.

9.   Reform Rabbi Uri Regev welcomed the idea, saying thousands of Israelis are disqualified from having religious weddings, and many others prefer civil weddings.

10.   Scotland makes its own rules and is also considering loosening the regulations on civil weddings.