Data released by the Office for National Statistics shows religious ceremonies now account for less than a quarter of all weddings.
Harry Benson, a Christian and research director at the Marriage Foundation, told The Times: "Low marriage rates show how much we have lost confidence in marriage, and yet marriages are as strong as ever - divorce rates are at their lowest level in 50 years."
Religious weddings accounted for 60,069 of the 249,793 ceremonies recorded in 2016.
While the number of couples opting to tie the knot in a place of worship fell by 4.1 per cent between 2015 and 2016, there was a 1.7 per cent rise in the total number of ceremonies during the same period.
The increase is partly down to more people in their 50s and 60s remarrying - as well as the relatively rapid growth in the number of same-sex couples marrying (up 8.1 per cent).
The increase in weddings between 2015 and 2016 contrasts a drop in ceremonies during the previous twelve months reported on by Premier last year.
Couples wanting a civil wedding were restricted to using a register office until the Marriage Act 1994 permitted the use of other locations - including hotels, castles and stately homes.
Explaining the growth in non-religious weddings, Ellen Walker from Hall Brown Family Law told The Telegraph: "Not too many years ago, society was more religious and there was an element of stigma to the idea of setting up home together without marrying or having children out of wedlock.
"However, the data shows that since the 90s there hasn't been the same importance attached to the religious aspect of the marriage ceremony."
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