Church weddings ‘at record low in North Yorkshire’

1,163 weddings were conducted in a church, synagogue or other religious venue in 2017, figures show. | JPIMedia Resell

A record low proportion of couples in North Yorkshire are choosing to get married in a religious venue, new figures reveal.

The UK’s largest humanist group said a national decline reflected couples increasingly wanting a ceremony that matches with their non-religious beliefs.

In North Yorkshire, 1,163 weddings were conducted in a church, synagogue or other religious venue in 2017, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

That means just 25% of ceremonies were religious – the lowest rate since records began in 2001.

That is down from the highest rate, 35%, in 2001.

The figures, which only include opposite-sex couples, show less than a quarter (23%) of weddings across England and Wales were religious in 2017.

Humanists UK said they already perform more than 1,000 non-legally recognised humanist wedding ceremonies each year in England and Wales.

Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham, said a church wedding is a unique occasion where time-honoured vows are exchanged in a “special and spiritual atmosphere”.

He said: “We know from research that many couples want this for their wedding day, whether they are regular churchgoers or not.”

The same ONS figures show 2.2% of weddings held in North Yorkshire were between same-sex couples – 42 between men and 59 between women.

It means the area is below the average across England and Wales, where a record 2.9% of weddings involved same-sex couples in 2017.