People choosing to marry at later stage in life

People are deciding to tie the knot in Ireland at an increasingly later stage in life, new data shows.

For opposite-sex marriages last year, the average age of brides was 34 and 36 for grooms, the highest to date.

The average age of men in a same-sex marriage was even higher at 40 years, in comparison to almost 39 years for women in a same-sex marriage.

The Marriages 2018 data was released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) using information from the registration forms of all marriages registered in Ireland last year.

It shows there were 21,053 marriages in Ireland in 2018, including 664 involving same-sex couples.

There were 21,053 marriages in 2018 including 664 same-sex marriageshttps://t.co/XanLyhKgI3#CSOIreland #Ireland #VitalStatistics #VitalStats #Marriages #Weddings@POStaidrimh pic.twitter.com/cS4tmjEWWX

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) April 10, 2019

This equates to an unadjusted marriage rate of 4.3 per 1,000 population.

Roman Catholic weddings were still the most popular choice among opposite-sex couples, with 10,027 couples opting for this ceremony.

Civil marriage ceremonies accounted for almost two-thirds of same-sex marriages, while over a quarter of opposite-sex couples chose this ceremony.

The number of couples choosing Humanist and Spiritualist Union of Ireland ceremonies is increasing. A Humanist ceremony was the choice of 1,766 opposite-sex couples and 121 same-sex couples in 2018, while 1,341 opposite-sex couples and 89 same-sex couples opted for a Spiritualist ceremony.

June, July and August were the most popular months to wed.