The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced Monday that members who marry in a civil ceremony will no longer need to wait a year to be married in one of the faith’s temples. This is a change that could allow more family members to be present at loved ones' weddings.

The First Presidency writes:

“We affirm that the sealing of a man and woman in the temple offers eternal blessings to the couple and their posterity that can be gained in no other way. We encourage all such couples to qualify for sealing ordinances and blessings.”

Latter-day Saints believe marriage lasts until death, but the temple sealing ordinance makes a marriage last beyond death into eternity.

Continuing, the letter reaffirms the discontinuance of the one-year waiting period usually required after a civil marriage. Couples may be sealed in the temple when they receive their temple recommends. To obtain a recommend, members are required follow several of the faith's commandments, including paying 10% of their income to the church and abstaining from alcohol, coffee, tobacco and extramarital sex. Children and other family members who don't meet those requirements are not allowed inside the temple for the ceremony, with the exception of children being sealed to their parents.

It remains to be seen how many Latter-day Saints will use the policy change as an opportunity to plan civil marriages that more people can attend and follow up with temple sealings.

“Where possible, leaders should encourage couples to be both married and sealed in the temple. Where a licensed marriage is not permitted in the temple, or when a temple marriage would cause parents or immediate family members to feel excluded, a civil ceremony followed by a temple sealing is authorized,” the letter states.

According to The First Presidency, church leaders anticipate that the change will provide more opportunities for families to “come together in love and unity during the special time of marriage and sealing of a man and woman.”

For over half a century the church has not required the yearlong wait in countries where the temple sealing ordinance is not also recognized as a civil marriage.

“This change in policy should not be interpreted as lessening the emphasis on the temple sealing,” The First Presidency writes. “There is no specific time frame within which members should be sealed after being married civilly. Priesthood leaders interview couples and provide temple recommends when the couple is both worthy and ready to be sealed in the temple.”

Newly baptized members still need to wait a year before being sealed in the temple and church meetinghouses will continue to be used for civil ceremonies.

The church's language of "a sealing of a man and woman" in the statement reaffirms its position that same-sex couples do not qualify for the ordinance.