There’s nothing we love more than geeking out over weddings, and when the Central Statistics Office released the 2024 marriage statistics, we had a chance to dive into Ireland’s changing wedding trends. From the average age of the Irish bride and groom, to the most popular month to get married, as well as the popularity of Catholic ceremonies versus civil ceremonies, we found some interesting insights into how couples are wedding planning these days.
So let’s dive into the top five takeaways from the Irish 2024 marriage statistics below – you might even be surprised at the results!
5 Takeaways from the 2024 Marriage Statistics
1. The Number of Opposite-Sex Marriages Has Dropped
It’s a fact that the pandemic really skewed the marriage numbers for 2020, 2021 and 2022, but it seems that things have finally settled down again, albeit with a decrease in the number of weddings that took place in Ireland last year.
There were 20,348 marriages in total legalised in Ireland in 2024, down 4% on 2023. However what’s really interesting is that while there was a decrease in opposite sex marriages (down 4% to 19,680), there was an increase in same-sex marriages (up 3.4% to 668) from the year before.
2. Brides Are Older Than Ever Getting Married
Over the years, the age at which opposite-sex couples choose to say ‘I do’ has been steadily creeping up, but even more so for brides it seems. While men are, and have always been on average, older than women when getting married, women are steadily closing that gap.
In 2024 the average age of a groom is 37.7 years old, the same as the previous year. However the average age for women having an opposite sex wedding is now 35.9, up from 35.8 the year before,
That age jump is even bigger for women in same-sex couples who are now choosing to say ‘I do’ at 39.7 years old, rather than 38.
3. Civil Ceremonies On Par With Catholic Ceremonies
This is the category that really reflects the shift in attitudes towards weddings in Ireland, as in 2024 there was a mere 0.1% difference between the number of Catholic wedding ceremonies in Ireland (6,425) versus the number of civil ceremonies (6,392). This puts them almost on par for the first time ever.
What’s also interesting is that the number of ceremonies carried out by the Humanist Association of Ireland (7.4%), the Church of Ireland (0.9%) and the Spiritualist Union of Ireland (7.1%) are also down, but ceremonies categorised as ‘Other Religious’ are up, now making up 19.8% of all marriage in Ireland.
4. The Most Popular Dates Have Changed
We were really surprised to see that a bank holiday weekend did not feature in the most popular dates to get married for the first time. Overall sunny August remains the most popular month to get married in Ireland with the most weddings taking place then, especially on the August Bank holiday weekend. However, early September is always a popular time for weddings with many weddings the first or second Friday.
The 2024 marriage statistics show that Friday, 6 September and Friday, 21 June were the most popular dates for opposite-sex marriages. The year before, Friday 15 September was the most popular date for opposite-sex marriages followed by the bank holiday weekend of Friday, 4 August.
For same-sex marriages the most popular month to get married was September, switching up from July in 2023 and August in 2022.
5. And Some Things Never Change…
With lots of couples now opting for Day Two celebrations as par for the course, Friday continues to be the most popular day to get married, followed by Saturday. Who wouldn’t want to stretch the happiest day of their life out to a full weekend of celebrations?
Likewise the least popular day to get married has stayed the same year on year, with only a small percentage of couples choosing to get married on a Sunday. Unsurprisingly, January remains the least popular month to get married, which is why many Irish venues and wedding suppliers choose to take a well-deserved break at this time.
At the beginning of your wedding planning journey? All you need is our wedding venue checklist and a copy of the 100 Best Wedding Venues guide which is available to purchase online!
