When is the most popular day to get married
ROMANTIC couples have helped make February 14 one of the most popular dates to get married.
Overall, based on data for marriages between 1995 and 2013, the date is ninth most popular, with 27,000 couples getting hitched on Valentine’s day over the 19 years.
However, February 14 is probably the most popular specific date. While other dates have seen more weddings, it’s likely due to them falling on Saturdays at the height of wedding season.
Couples are twice as likely to get wed on February 14, and nearly four times more likely to pick it than any other date in February.
Christmas Day is the least popular day to get wed, probably because register offices are closed and vicars might be a bit busy with other things. Boxing Day is the next least popular date.
January 1 is also pretty unpopular, except for January 1, 2000, when there were 249 marriages registered, nearly 10 times the usual average of 26 marriages.
Over the 19 years, 2,989 couples got married on February 29 (which means they only have to remember their anniversary every four years).
The date is 62 per cent more popular than the average February day.
Between 1995 and 2013, there were 4.9m marriages registered in England and Wales. Three-fifths, 62%, of these took place on a Saturday, or 3m marriages, with Friday the next most popular day, 17 per cent.
Thursday is the next choice, with five per cent of weddings, then Sunday, 4.4 per cent, Monday and Wednesday, four per cent, and Tuesday, 3.3 per cent, is the least popular.
The most popular month to get wed is August, with 15.7 per cent of the weddings, or 763,000 marriages, over the period, followed by July, 13.1 per cent, and September, 13 per cent. Wedding season runs from May to September.
The least popular month to get married lowed by March.
However, overall the most popular day to get married is the first Saturday of September. This is followed by the first Saturday of August and the last Saturday of July. Other Saturdays in August are the next most popular dates.
But couple might be starting to branch out with their wedding day choices.
In 1995, 68 per cent of all is January, folFebruary, then weddings were on a Saturday, but by 2013 this had fallen to 53 per cent, it’s lowest level over the period. In comparison, the proportion of weddings taking place on a Friday has grown from 15 per cent to 19 per cent over the same period, while Thursday weddings are up from five per cent to eight per cent and your chances of being invited to a Sunday wedding have tripled, as they are up from two to six per cent.
Couples seem to avoid getting married on the 13th of the month, with the number of weddings 29 per cent lower than the average number on this day.
The fear that 13 might be unlucky persists, even when the 13th is a Saturday, with couples 24 per cent less likely to pick the day, and even when it’s a Saturday in July, -25 per cent compared to the Saturday average, or August, -21 per cent.
So you’re best chance for a last minute summer Saturday wedding may be Saturday July 13, 2019 and Saturday August 13, 2022.
Halloween is slightly less popular than other dates in October - people are more likely to pick November 1.
William and Kate’s wedding date, April 29, is the most popular for those picking April, while the May bank holiday weekends are also more likely to be picked by brides and grooms.
The annual marriage statistics for England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics are based on the details collected when marriages are solemnised, the statistics are based on information recorded in the marriage register.
Figures for England and Wales represent the number of marriages solemnised in a particular year in either a civil or a religious ceremony. Figures are derived from information collected as part of the marriage registration process.
Marriage figures are based on country of formation and not country of residence and relate only to marriages taking place in England and Wales
They do not include marriages of residents taking place abroad, but do include non-England and Wales residents who marry within England and Wales There is no legal requirement for UK residents who get married abroad to register their marriage with UK authorities.