why marry there?

[jimrobertson24]

Thanks...
Is there any real reason why people chose not to go to the church. There were plenty churches in the area.

[djct59]

A very quick check on the page in Register of BDM for 1868 shows that my great grandparents were married by a minister "after banns according to the forms of the Church of Scotland" at a place that was not a church (possibly their home). The other entry on the same page was also a Church of Scotland marriage, again taking place some distance from the nearest church with a roof, so in the 1860s Scottish marriages clearly did not need to be conducted in church

[JMStrachan]

It just wasn't the custom in Scotland, especially in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. The vast majority of marriages didn't take place in church, so most people just wouldn't have seen a church wedding as an option. A lot of baptisms didn't happen in church either. The minister went to the bride and groom, or baby, rather than the other way round.

The reason why getting married in church was the norm in England is that under English marriage law the place had to be authorised for weddings as well as the person conducting the service. But in Scotland that didn't apply - only the person had to be authorised. Where it took place was irrelevant.

[djct59]

In addition, I understand that in English law marriage was regarded as a sacrament, and had to be performed in a holy place, while since the Reformation marriage in Scots law is a matter of contract, and can thus be performed anywhere.

[Forfarian]

Is there any real reason why people chose not to go to the church. There were plenty churches in the area.

It just wasn't the custom.

I analysed the information in my database, picking out the church weddings as a proportion of all weddings in Scotland.

In 1855-1869, only 1% of couples were married in church - three in the Church of Scotland and one each in the United Presbyterian, Free, Glassite and Episcopal Churches.

Church weddings peaked in popularity in the 1970s, when 63% of weddings were in church. Since then the proportion has been falling again.

I've attached the complete analysis, but I don't know how it will read because apparently Excel attachments are not allowed.

[jimrobertson24]

Thank you all