Almost 150 couples say yes - I sure do

SPECIAL DAY: Matthew Allen and Hannah Ferens married at Tuhitarata Estate's Lacewood venue in South Wairarapa on March 1 last year. PHOTO/JENNY SIAOSI PHOTOGRAPHY

Getting married with all their siblings gathered at a family-owned Wairarapa venue was important to Hannah Ferens and Matthew Allen.

Ms Ferens - who is one of five children - and Mr Allen - who is one of six - were one of almost 150 couples to be married in the Wairarapa last year, says Statistics New Zealand.

More marriages were held in Masterton and South Wairarapa last year than in 2013, but the number of weddings dipped in Carterton.

Ms Ferens and Mr Allen were married at Tuhitarata Estate's Lacewood venue in South Wairarapa on March 1 last year. The venue is owned by Mr Allen's father.

"We weren't one of those couples who had always planned to get married," Ms Ferens said.

"For us, it was about bringing all our family and friends together in celebration and having a really amazing party, because we don't often all come together.

"The Wairarapa is beautiful and the venue is really special to us. It was an amazing day."

Nationally, there were 20,125 marriages last year - 888 more than in 2013.

Altogether, there were 19,639 opposite-sex marriages and 486 same-sex marriages.

A further 2507 opposite-sex marriages and 391 same-sex marriages were registered to overseas residents.

It was the first full year of same-sex marriage registrations since the Marriage Amendment Act came into effect in August 2013.

The number of same-sex civil unions dropped considerably in 2014, with couples opting to marry instead. Only 19 same-sex civil unions were registered to New Zealanders in 2014, down from 121 in 2013, while there were 277 more same-sex marriages last year than in 2013.

Meanwhile, 8171 married and 63 civil-union couples divorced in 2014. Just over a third of couples who married in 1989 had divorced before their 25th wedding anniversary.

Couples must be separated for more than two years before they can divorce, therefore no same-sex marriages have formally dissolved.

Celebrants Association president Elizabeth Bennett said several factors affected the number of marriages.

"If you compare the rate of marriage 20 years ago to now, it's decreased," she said. "A lot of people are delaying when they get married. Women are having a more prominent role in the workforce, people travel more than they used to, and so on."

The association had noticed the uptake in same-sex marriages.

"Members certainly noticed fewer civil unions taking place. There was quite a number of couples who came from Australia to get married here because same-sex legislation hasn't passed there yet."