The following excerpt is taken from “The Story of Christianity” by Justo L. Gonzalez and is the primary book for Church History at Wesley Theological Seminary.

The idea of celebrating marriages in church happened around the 3 century when Ignatius of Antioch wrote to Polycarp that all marriages should take place with the knowledge of the bishop…. marriages in church has a function outside of consecration… according to the law of the time, the social status – and the accompanying rights of a couple were determined by the status of the husband.  In the history of the early church women tended to be of higher social standing than men, and there for official legal marriages among believers could have serious civil consequences, depriving the wife of some of her rights and standing.  The solution was to perform church marriages that had no official or civil sanction

Looking at the above statement and thinking about the world we live in today, were civil and religious ceremonies ever meant to be blended together?