The number of marriages taking place in the UK has reached its lowest level on record, following a trend of fewer marriages since 1973.
While weddings increased in 2004, figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) pointed to a ten per cent fall in the number of wedding in 2005, at 244,710.
This was the year in which the government cracked down on sham marriages.
Of this an ONS report said: "Clearly the effect of the change in the law is one possible factor."
London has experienced the biggest drop in the number of marriages, where a drop of 35 per cent has been witnessed.
Other ONS figures show that of the 18,000 civil partnerships between gay couples to have taken place since December 2005, two-thirds have been male couples.
Some 24 per cent of women and ten per cent of men entering into a civil partnership had previously been married.
