Wedding Statistics Australia

A collection of interesting statistics on marriages and weddings within Australia taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of marriages are increasing!

In 2008, there were 118,756 registered marriages in Australia. This is the highest number of marriages registered in a single year since 1989 when 117,176 marriages were registered and continues the relatively steady increase in marriages since 2001.

Crude Marriage Rate

Although the number of marriages has returned to a level comparable with those of 20 years ago, the population has increased over this time. As a result, the crude marriage rate is lower than it was 20 years ago. In 2008, the crude marriage rate was 5.5 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population, compared with 7.0 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population in 1989.

We are getting married older!

The median age of people married in 2008 was 31.6 years for males and 29.3 years for females. From 1989 to 2006 the median age at marriage increased by 3.64 years for males and 3.58 years for females.

In 1989 the highest age-specific marriage rate for males was in the 25-29 year age group (53.3 per 1,000 males), however for females, the highest rate was amongst the 20-24 year age group (68.4 per 1,000 females).

Most marriages are first time marriages!

In 2008, 78.2% of people married had not been married previously, continuing the general upward trend observed since 2001. For males, this applied to 77.3% of all marriages, with a further 1.6% of males having been widowed, and 21.1% having been divorced. For females, 79.0% had not been previously married, with a further 1.8% having been widowed, and 19.2% having been divorced.

Marriages in which neither party had previously been married made up 69.8% f all marriages in 2008, while a further 16.8% were first marriages for one partner. The remaining 13.4% of marriages were remarriages for both partners.

Since 1989, the number of widows/widowers remarrying has been steadily decreasing while marriages of people who were previously divorced has remained relatively stable for the last few years.

Civil marriages have outnumbered religious ceremonies

Civil marriages have outnumbered religious ceremonies since 1999 when 51.3% of all marriages were performed by civil celebrants. In 2008, the trend toward civil ceremonies continued, with 65.0% of marriages performed by civil celebrants.

Of the 41,545 marriages performed by ministers of religion in 2008, the most common rites used were Catholic (33.5%) followed by Anglican (17.7%).

Country of birth

In 2008, 59.4% of marriages were of couples where both parties were born in Australia. A further 10.5% of marriages were of parties born in the same overseas country, and 30.0% marriages were of males and females born in different countries.

The median age of males and females born in Australia who married in 2008 was 30.8 years and 28.7 years respectively. Males born in Italy and Greece had the highest median age at marriage, 46.0 years and 43.3 years respectively. In contrast, males born in China had the lowest median age at marriage (27.3 years). For females, those born in Italy had the highest median age at marriage (43.5 years) followed by those born in Greece (37.0 years). In contrast, females born in Lebanon had the lowest median age at marriage (24.9 years).

Couples are living together prior to getting married!

Of the 118,756 couples who registered a marriage in 2008, 77.7% indicated that they had lived together prior to registering their marriage. These couples tended to be slightly older than all people getting married. In 2008, the median age of males who lived with their wife before marriage was 32.0 years, compared with 31.6 years for all males. Similarly, the median age of females who lived with their husbands before getting married was 29.7 years, compared with 29.3 years for all females.

The most popular month for weddings is November & Saturday the most popular day!

In 2008, the most popular month for marriages was November, with 15,109 (12.7%) marriages celebrated in this month. March followed with 14,128 (11.9%) marriages. July was the least popular month for weddings, with only 5,008 (4.2%) of marriages taking place in that month.

Weddings are more likely to occur on a Saturday, then Sunday and Friday. 2008 is consistent with this pattern. Saturday 4 October was the most popular day of 2008 to get married, with 2,221 marriages ceremonies being performed on that day

New South Wales leads the way for marriages!

In 2008, the greatest increase in the number of marriages registered was in New South Wales (up by 1155, 3.0%) and Queensland (995, 3.9%). Both South Australia and Tasmania decreased by 49 (0.6%) and 176 (3.8%) respectively.

Queensland recorded the highest crude marriage rate in 2008 (6.2 marriages per 1,000 estimated population), whilst the Northern Territory had the lowest crude marriage rate, with 4.3 marriages per 1,000 estimated population. Marriages performed by ministers of religion as a proportion of all marriages in 2008 were highest in New South Wales and lowest in Tasmania (39.5% and 29.5% respectively). In 2008, the proportion of marriages where couples lived together prior to marriage was lowest in New South Wales (69.9%) and highest in Tasmania (86.4%).

Matching Wine to Your Wedding Menu

If you’re planning to have your wedding anywhere within a wine region of Australia, you might want to consider matching the wine with your wedding food. This can make a winery meal special and very memorable for guests. But be careful not to get too caught up in the details of matching wine with food or you will get yourself stressed out and end up serving ten varieties of wine in one sitting! Have a chat to your wine provider about the menu you have chosen, and they will be happy to help you select the right wines to compliment the food. Otherwise you can decide for yourself which wines to serve by remembering some basic key points to food and wine matching. These points are:

Matching Strength of Flavours

A spicy dish, or one with a more intensely flavoured sauce should be matched with a stronger tasting wine. If you have balanced it correctly, you should have an equal palate of tastes. Can you taste the wine when you sip the wine? Can you taste the meal when you have a bite of the meal? If so, great. But if there is a dominant taste that lingers then it is not the right match.

Compatible Weights and Bodies

Without getting caught up in too much technical detail, an easy way to match wine with food is to pair compatible weights and bodies. This is where the old rule “red wine goes with red meat, white wine goes with white meat” steps in. However choosing a light bodied red such as Beaujolais can replace a light white wine, or a full-bodied white such as a Chardonnay also works well in place of a heavy red. If you are having white meat for dinner but it has a heavy sauce, match the wine to the sauce or to the strongest flavour of the dish.

Taste Levels

There are four basic food tastes; sweet, sour, bitter and salt. A food strong in any of these can change how your wine tastes. For example, food that is salty or sour will make a wine taste milder, less acidic, so you should actually choose a wine with a higher acidic content to go with these types of dishes. Try a Sauvignon Blanc or even a sparkling wine. The opposite occurs with sweet foods, these will hide the fruit and highlight the tannins, making the wine taste stronger. So for sweet foods like most desserts, pair it with a fruity wine like Gewurztraminer.

Enjoyment!

Some experts say it doesn’t matter what wine you have with food, as long as you enjoy it. And others say the age-old traditions of matching food with certain types of wine are there for a reason. I think it is in between – match the wine and the food to get the most out of both, but don’t deny yourself your favourite drop by doing so!  As long as you and your guests are enjoying the wine, don’t get caught up too much in trying to have everything matched perfectly.

At the end of the day, serve any wine for your wedding and most guests will be happy with what they get. But if you are given the choice to select the wines that are served, having the right match can be the difference between a good meal and a great meal.

Join the Wedding Conversation

Hunter Bride has launched Hunter Bride Social, a unique portal of Hunter wedding conversation.

The portal consists of the Hunter Bride Forum, Hunter Wedding News, and presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube!

No matter where the planning Hunter bride chooses to converse, Hunter Bride Social offers a portal that will satisfy all.

Our Forum allows Hunter Brides to chat through an easy to use interface with the ability to share on Facebook and Twitter. Messages posted on a thread pop up instantly and a conversation thread can continue indefinitely.

Founder of Hunter Bride, Bill Vasiliadis says “The Forum is a popular choice amongst brides, and we have introduced a simple, yet modern forum to meet the demands of today’s social bride”.

Bill says “We all know that Australians are spending much of their time on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and Brides are discovering that these mediums are a great source of wedding planning too!”.

So what are you waiting for, join the wedding conversation at Hunter Bride Social today and start planning and sharing your dream wedding.

How to Plan a Vintage Inspired Vineyard Wedding

One of the most adored wedding motifs of today is the vintage-inspired theme. And the perfect ambiance to match this theme can be achieved with vineyard weddings! There is something fresh, unique, and romantic about vineyards. The air smells of sentimentality – just the right “feel-good” atmosphere for a lovely vintage-themed celebration.

Here are some ways you can re-create that love story of the past into your very own vineyard wedding.

1. Choose subdued, earth tones for your wedding flowers.

There is a certain air of vintage in earth tones. Greens, browns, purples and reds highlight the natural beauty of the vineyard environment.

2. Match your wedding decorations with old vintage collectibles.

If you have an old book or notebook, a typewriter, vintage-inspired luggage – you can probably display them among your wedding décor in the reception venue. You can always borrow from a friend’s collection to aid you in this. Soon you will find that this turns out to be a budget-friendly motif too!

3. Include grapes, nuts, and other fruits on your reception table.

A vineyard wedding is not complete without the display of these colourful and yummy bits. Aside from having them as aesthetics, offer your guests a line of wedding favours featuring these fresh treats.

4. Choose your wine.

Choosing your wedding wine can be tricky. That is why most couples go for the common favourites of their guests. Since you are holding your event in the Hunter Valley, you are at an advantage. You have immediate access to test and taste the fine wine produce of the valley and determine what to offer your guests.

5. Choose your wedding venue.

Not all vineyards are open to crowd celebrations. The best way for you to deal with this is to plan ahead of time. Scout which vineyards are available for wedding ceremonies and choose the vineyard that offers the atmosphere you are looking for.

Final Tip

Vineyard weddings make a wonderful twist to the usual garden wedding. In the Hunter Valley region, you can take a nice walk among several vineyards and parks that will guarantee a picturesque celebration. To add more flavour to the event, have your guests come in their vintage-spring outfits. You may let them choose between your selected colours in order for everyone to blend with the theme. Since outdoor weddings are light-spirited in nature, you can expect people to let loose, drink more wine, and just be merry!

Start Planning Your Wedding – Choosing a Theme

First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Finally it is time to start planning that wedding you’ve always dreamed of … or haven’t. Either way, it’s a daunting task to get started on a wedding so make sure you just relax and remember to breathe.

When faced with the idea of organising an entire wedding from scratch a lot of people won’t be sure where to even start. A good tip for any bride-to-be is to get started by thinking about a theme for the wedding.

A theme can be something as simple as the colour that will be used for bridesmaids, invites and the cake decorations or it could be something more obvious such as ‘Christmas Wedding’ or ‘Fairytale Wedding’. Once you have chosen your theme, it will make future decisions much easier and far less overwhelming. For example, anyone who has visited a wedding invitation shop or website knows how many choices there are out there. Just remember you can’t do everything so pick a theme and stay true to it.

Tips on Choosing Your Theme

When deciding, make sure you choose a theme that is right for you and your fiancé. Don’t organise the whole day around your guests and forget the most important people of all, yourself and hubby-to-be!

Picking a theme can be as easy as choosing something that is suitable to the location of where you would like to get married – like a beach wedding theme if you are getting married in Port Stephens – or it could be something that is very meaningful to you both such as a movie theme if you had your first date at a movie theatre.

Having said that, make sure you keep in mind whether your theme is going to be compatible with several other aspects of your wedding, such as the location of the ceremony or the reception venue. For example, if you have your heart set on the biggest dress you can find and all the trimmings, you probably don’t want to have your ceremony on a beach. And if you fancy the idea of a medieval banquet feast as your wedding dinner then perhaps by-pass the super modern reception building that has just been erected.

Example Theme – Hunter Valley Wedding

Tulloch Wines

If you have chosen the Hunter Valley as the destination for your wedding it’s probably a safe bet that you and your partner enjoy wine so you could consider having a vineyard theme for your wedding. Use a translucent paper with the pattern of a bunch of grapes on your wedding invite for a subtle hint or for a more obvious look have the actual invite die-cut to be shaped like a wine bottle.

The wedding cake can be decorated with real grapes with vines wrapping elegantly around it or you could have the clusters of grapes created out of icing. If that is a bit too themed for you, try using a simple sash around the middle of the cake in a lush vine-like green or a burgundy red like your favourite wine.

For the bomboniere a cute idea can be to have mini wine bottles with a custom made label on the front with your names and the date of your wedding. These can be found at several wineries around the Hunter Valley if you wanted to give guests a keepsake from the venue.

Whatever you end up choosing, try to keep it simple. Tempting as it might be, don’t go overboard with the theme. Often having a few key parts of the day in theme can have more of an impact than an overload of matching bits and pieces. Good luck!