New national data shows church weddings have reached their lowest level on record, as fewer young adults choose to marry in traditional religious settings.

According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Church of England officiated 23,004 opposite-sex marriages in 2023, just over one in ten ceremonies, and the lowest number since records began in 1837, excluding the pandemic years.

Church weddings have been declining for decades. In 2003, the Church conducted more than a fifth of opposite-sex weddings; in 1973, it oversaw more than a third.

Commenting on the latest figures, Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch, emeritus professor of the history of the Church at the University of Oxford, told reporters that “the public have voted with their feet".

The Rev Marcus Walker, rector of St Bartholomew the Great and founder of Save the Parish, said the trend is “sad and worrying". 

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “Sad that in a dangerous and fast-moving world we have never needed more the knowledge that someone is there ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health’. Worrying because marriage is becoming class-coded, the rest of society is being priced out.”

The decline in church weddings comes alongside wider changes in religious affiliation. 

The 2021 ONS census reported that 46.2% of people in England and Wales identified as Christian, down from 59.3% in 2011.

Responding to the marriage data, the Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev David Walker, said: “Our clergy welcome couples and work with them to ensure their wedding is personal, meaningful and spiritual.” 

He added: “We want to reassure couples that they don’t have to be churchgoers to have a church wedding… and we welcome couples who already have children.”

Family law partner Jamie Kennaugh told The Telegraph that financial pressures have pushed weddings “out of reach” for many couples, while Harry Benson of the Marriage Foundation warned that falling marriage rates contribute to wider family instability.