Church Weddings: What’s The Big Deal?

Church weddings in the UK are on the rise. No surprises there, really. After a royal wedding like William and Kate’s (or should that be Kate and William’s – she certainly got all of the attention) the popularity of getting married in a church (all those arches, high ceilings and altar boys!) would obviously increase.

But in country’s like Australia – who have not recently had a royal wedding and are enough removed from the Commonwealth not to have felt the repercussions quite so severely – church weddings are actually on the decrease. There civil weddings have increased from 42 per cent in 1990 to over 69 per cent in 2010.

Back in England, the royal wedding did not do the cause of church weddings any harm. Quite the reverse. Weddings held in churches went up to 54 700 in 2010 compared with 52 730 just the year before. Some say this increase is also due to relaxed Anglican Church rules allowing couples to marry in any area where they have lived for six months or where their parents of grandparents were married.

What may work against the upsurge of church weddings, however, is the recent rise in marriage and funeral fees in the Church of England. Funerals aside, a wedding ceremony that used to cost £296 will set Brits back £415 from 2013!

How much a church will cost you for a wedding in South Africa obviously differs from church to church. But therein lies the rub – a church wedding is definitely more expensive than a civil ceremony.

In South Africa more and more venues have become licensed for marriage, which means there is that much more to choose from for the bride and groom. Their package deals, which include the ceremony and the reception at the same venue, have meant that fewer brides are opting for church weddings, even if ceremonies are held in residential ‘chapels’.

Why choose a church wedding?

There is a lot to be said for pomp and ceremony and stone walls
During a recession, studies show that people feel reassured by more traditional institutions, like churches
Weddings feel more significant when celebrated in a church
Even if you’re not devout, the atmosphere is hard to beat