Brides and grooms are keeping things civil

The UK may be just as loved up as ever, but church weddings are undoubtedly on the decline with Brits opting for civil weddings instead.

The data, collected by wedding planner Scarlet Events, was obtained by the Freedom of Information (FOI) act which requested statistics from councils across the UK on how many religious and civil weddings were held between 1st June 2017 and 31st May 2018.

Of the 431 councils contacted, there were 96 councils who held the data and were able to provide exact figures on the number of church and civil weddings.
Within the 96 regions who participated, there were a total of only 30,032 religious weddings during the time period, as opposed to a staggeringly larger number of 87,686 civil weddings, showing just how popular non-religious ceremonies are fast becoming.

Indeed three councils reported no religious weddings took place at all during the last year, whilst smallest amount of civil weddings reported was 13 within the Tonbridge and Malling Borough region.
In contrast, the greatest number of religious weddings was 2,011 within the London Borough of Harrow, which also happens to be one of the few 13 regions whose residents opted for a religious ceremony over a civil one, as the remaining 83 counties all reported a larger number of civil marriages over religious weddings.

The top five councils with the most amount of religious weddings in the time period were: 1. London Borough of Harrow - 2,011
2. Kent County Council - 1,571
3. Hampshire County Council - 1,444
4. Essex County Council - 1,420
5. City of Glasgow - 1,356

However, while some people may still prefer a more traditional religious wedding, it's impossible to ignore the nation's overall preference for non religious nuptials, as the highest number of civil weddings recorded within a region was 6,002 ceremonies within the county of Kent (an eye-watering 3,991 more couples than London Borough's 2011).

Marc Ahmed, managing director at Scarlet Events says: “Weddings are all so unique and personal to each couple, and it's interesting to see how people are choosing to tie the knot. Centuries ago religious ceremonies within a place of worship were the only option for couples, but now things are changing and people are able to live out there wedding dreams wherever they may choose. It's exciting to think about where the future of wedding trends may take us. Today we may be seeing more and more people getting married in a civil service on a beach, but in years to come maybe we could be seeing people getting married in space, or on top of mountains! The stars are the limit when it comes to love after all.”

For more information please visit: www.scarletevents.com