THE POPULARITY of marriage remains undimmed but one-quarter of all weddings are now celebrated in civil ceremonies, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The statistics also show that brides and grooms are getting steadily older.
From June to September is the preferred time for tying the knot with just 3 per cent of couples opting for a January wedding.
Three weddings out of every four are held on a Friday or Saturday, while just 1 per cent take place on a Sunday.
In two-thirds of unions, the groom is older than the bride. This is the case across all age groups except, curiously, the under-25s, where half of all brides are younger than their betrothed and just one-third are older.
Brides and grooms from Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown are on average the oldest in the State, while Monaghan’s couples are the youngest to walk up the aisle.
The average age of grooms stands at 33.4 years, according to the figures, which date from 2007. This is slightly higher than 33.2 years in 2006, but is an increase of 3.2 years on the 1996 figure.
The pattern for women marrying is similar, with the average age increasing from 28.4 years in 1996 to 31.2 and 31.3 years in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
In 2007, over 66 per cent of all grooms were aged 30 or over on their wedding day. This compares with a little over 65 per cent and 42 per cent in 2006 and 1996 respectively. The CSO said the proportion of older brides has also increased, with more than 52 per cent aged 30 or over in 2007 compared with just over 51 per cent in 2006, and almost 28 per cent in 1996.
Almost 91 per cent of grooms from Co Louth married women resident in the same county; in contrast, only 64 per cent of grooms from Co Roscommon “married local”.
As for brides, 89 per cent of Co Wicklow women stayed within the county for their choice of marriage partner, while again Co Roscommon women were the most likely to marry a man living outside the county.
Some 22,756 marriages were registered in 2007 – a rate of 5.2 per 1,000 of the population.
Nearly three-quarters of all marriages (74 per cent) were Catholic ceremonies, compared to a total of 90 per cent in 1996.
A total of 5,146 (23 per cent) of marriages in 2007 were civil ceremonies.
This was a slight increase of 19 on the 2006 figure. In 1996, however, just 6 per cent of marriages were civil ceremonies.
The CSO attributes the figure to the legalisation of divorce here.
August was the most popular month for weddings, with 15 per cent of marriages taking place in that month in 2007.
Marriages in June, July, August and September accounted for 54 per cent of all marriages in the year.
The most popular days of the week for weddings were Friday and Saturday – accounting for 72 per cent of all marriages.
