Couples say 'we do' to Wanganui

BIG DAY: Yvette and Jon Douglas were married at the Collegiate chapel last year.PHOTO/ MARK BRIMBLECOMBE DOUGLAS-WEDDING1

Getting married in Wanganui was "a no-brainer" for old girl and former Wanganui Collegiate School teacher Yvette Douglas.

Her big day was one of 168 weddings in Wanganui last year - a five-year high for the district.

According to Statistics New Zealand, 168 couples married in Wanganui last year - an increase of 20 from 2013, and 17 more than five years ago.

Mrs Douglas, nee Baldwin, now lives in Hawke's Bay but says Wanganui is still very special to her.

"I'm from Wanganui and my parents and grandparents still live there.

"We had the wedding in the Collegiate chapel with Reverend Richard Evans, who was Reverend when I went to school there."

Mrs Douglas, who taught history at Collegiate and worked at the girls' boarding house, married Jon Douglas on August 16.

"It was a really nice day. The other good thing about Wanganui is it's a really reasonably priced place to get married - some places can be astronomical."

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

There were 19,639 opposite-sex marriages and 486 same-sex marriages, and 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 significantly 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 one-third of couples who married in 1989 had divorced before their 25th wedding anniversary.

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

"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 increase 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."