Marriage rates have plummeted to their lowest level on record. And the popularity of religious wedding ceremonies is also at a historic low.
Just 23% of couples in England and Wales chose a church or other place of worship for their big day in 2017, according to official figures.
There were 242,842 marriages registered in total in 2017 – a decrease of 2.8% from 2016, the Office for National Statistics revealed.
It is the first time data for the year has been published due to delays with the clergy and registrars submitting it. Couples have been increasingly turning their backs on marriage, just like Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross’s characters do in hit 1967 movie The Graduate.