After taking the plunge and doing my first wedding fair on Sunday at the beautiful Avoncroft Museum, it seems that there isn't a traditional "wedding season" any longer, with brides choosing a range of dates throughout the year.
Summer weddings will always be popular, all brides wish for the sun to shine on their big day and summer holds more chance of that happening, even with our unpredictable British weather!
Juno, a Roman Goddess, was the protector of women throughout all areas of their lives but particularly marriage and childbirth. As the month of June was named after her, this became known as the luckiest month to be married.
Another reason June was so popular was down to the Celtic calendar. On the 1st of May (Beltane in the Celtic calendar) young couples would be matched up and then "dated" for three months until the next celebration of Lammas (1st of August) when they would be married. This this three month period soon got shortened to six weeks due to the young couples being impatient and so this bought us to the middle to end of June and the time of the Summer Solstice.
According to the Office of National Statistics, in 1947 (the earliest data available) August was the most popular month followed by December and April. In this year, one of the most talked about weddings was in November, a fairly unpopular month at that time. This was the wedding of our Queen and Prince Philip.
During the 1950's and 60's there was a spike in March for weddings and one reason for this is thought to be the end of the tax year in April - a married man would receive the full Married Man's Tax Allowance if he was married before the 5th of April!
Summer weddings became popular in the 1980's and this could be down to another Royal wedding, that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Summer weddings are still the most popular as we moved into the new Millennium so it looks as though this tradition that dates back to the time of the Celts, is here to stay.
Is, or was, your wedding in the Summer? Let me know below :-)
