The most popular day of the year for Britons to get married has been revealed as September 2.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there were a total of 3,227 marriages in England and Wales on 2 September in 2023 – the latest year for which figures are available.
This was a change from recent trends in which Saturdays in July were the most popular days to get married.
Overall, Saturdays remained the most common day of the week to get married, with 41.9 per cent of all marriages (93,916) occurring on a Saturday.
The most popular month to get married in 2023 was August, when 14.3 per cent of marriages (32,121) took place.
For civil partnerships, September was the most popular month, with 9.9 per cent (744) of civil partnerships occurring.
January was the least popular month for both marriages and civil partnerships, when 2.6 per cent of marriages and 6.3 per cent of civil partnerships took place.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day continued the trend of being the least popular days to get married, with one marriage occurring on both days in 2023.
In total there were 224,402 marriages in 2023, down by 9.1 per cent from 246,897 the year before, according to the ONS data.
Over the same period civil partnerships surged by nearly 10 per cent to 7,547 – up from 6,879.
The average age for people of opposite sexes getting married was 34.8 for men and 33 for women – among the highest recorded.
The ONS said the latest drop in marriages followed a ‘post-pandemic spike’ in 2022, most likely due to weddings which had been postponed or delayed during lockdown.
The latest fall means the number of marriages that took place in England and Wales has plummeted by 44 per cent between 1973 and 2023.
However, separate analysis by the Marriage Foundation think-tank found that there are as many as 100,000 ‘missing marriages’ – couples who postponed their wedding during the pandemic but are yet to tie the knot – suggesting the idea of marriage remains important.
Harry Benson, research director of the foundation, said the year-onyear drop in weddings ‘conceals the long tail of lockdown’.
‘Compared to 2019, the year before lockdown, there has been a combined surplus of just 18,000 weddings in the three years post-lockdown,’ he said.
‘This surplus falls far short of the 130,000 drop in weddings during 2020, the highest drop in Western Europe due to the draconian restrictions.
‘That so many couples appear to have abandoned their wedding plans is incredibly sad for them, their friends and families.
But it may also have a serious knock-on effect on commitment. There is an important psychological purpose to weddings.
When couples announce their plans in public to the rest of the world, they receive support and affirmation for the most risky decision of their lives, to choose one person and reject all others.’
