Stopper on Weddings in 2021

Do you remember the song “Get Me to the Church on Time” from the movie My Fair Lady? It was sung by Stanley Holloway (as Eliza Doolittle’s father), and went like this:

“I’m getting married in the morning
Ding-dong the bells are going to chime
Pull out the stopper
Let’s have a whopper
But get me to the church on time…”

But it looks like there was a stopper on weddings in 2021.

According to a report by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 89,164 couples who married in 2021, with registrations well below pre-pandemic levels for the second year running.

James Eynstone-Hinkins, ABS Director of Health and Vital Statistics, said after the record low 78,989 weddings in 2020, marriage numbers recovered in early 2021 before the Delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic once again interrupted wedding plans.

“Marriage numbers in Victoria and New South Wales were particularly affected from June and July 2021 onwards as public health restrictions were stepped up. As a result, marriage registrations in 2021 were down 34.6 per cent in Victoria and 31.0 per cent in New South Wales when compared with 2019.

“Marriages in other states and territories were less impacted, with numbers in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory almost returning to pre-pandemic levels.”

In 2021, there were 2,842 same-sex marriages registered and 473 same-sex divorces granted. Female couples accounted for almost two thirds of same-sex marriages and divorces (62.3 and 64.7 per cent respectively).

Comprehensive data and analysis can be found in Marriages and Divorces, Australia, available for free download from the ABS website https://www.abs.gov.au/.

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