A love affair with tying the knot

More people in Northern Ireland are getting married

Marriage in the UK may be a declining institution, but the latest figures for Northern Ireland have recorded a rise in the consumption of wedding cake.

The number for 2006 was just under 8,300, a small increase on the 8,100 marriages registered in 2005.

In 2006, there were 116 civil partnerships (65 male and 51 female), the first full year of same-sex couples being able to register their unions.

Just under 2,600 divorces were registered - the highest ever recorded.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency said there had been a significant increase on the recent low of 7,300 marriages registered in 2001.

Since the introduction of new marriage laws in 2004, there has been an increase in the number of religious ceremonies taking place outside religious buildings and civil marriages taking place outside Registrar's Offices.

Ceremonies

Almost 5% of religious marriages took place outside religious buildings and over one-third (36%) of civil marriages took place outside Registrar's Offices.

Of couples married in Northern Ireland in the mid-1980s it is estimated just over one in six were divorced by their 20th wedding anniversary.

The marriage and civil partnership figures are based on returns from local registrars.

Divorce statistics were compiled from Decrees Absolute data from the Northern Ireland Court Service.

According to the most recent figures for England and Wales - from 2005 - there were 244,710 wedding ceremonies - the lowest number since 1896.

As the number of unmarried adults also rose, it was the lowest marriage rate since 1862.

There were 30,881 marriages in Scotland in 2005, 1,273 (4%) fewer than in 2004, which had the highest total since 1993.