Married Parents A Minority By 2031

A report on family like by the Office for National Statistics suggests that Britain is 24 years away from a situation where married couples will be a minority. The recently published report indicates the number of couples living together has increased 65% to 2.3 million in the last 10 years. In the same time period married couple families dropped by 4% to 12.1 million.

The report includes forecasts, predicting that by the year 2031 there will have been a 250% in cohabiting couples aged 45-64.

Helpful boyfriend. Lazy Husband

A survey for the Journal of Family Issues suggests that married men do fewer chores at home than live-in boyfriends!

Civil Partnerships Can Avoid Inheritance Tax

Ron Lynch, the partner of the Are You Being Served? star John Inman (pictured), inherited almost all of the £2.8m estate and did not have to pay any inheritance tax (according to the Telegraph).

Because the pair underwent a civil partnership ceremony in 2005, the Government's civil partnership legislation meant that Mr Lynch was exempt from an inheritance tax charge.

Disclaimer: Always seek professional advice for tax matters.

Getting Wed Is Less Scary Than A New Job

A survey of 2000 adults by jobsite.co.uk, the recruitment company, highlights that starting a job is three times more frightening than getting married.

Well in my opinion that's hardly the find of the century. Doesn't almost everyone find the experience of the first day of a new job somewhat daunting? And why should getting married be frightening anyway?

When One Marriage Isn't Enough

I presume that you to-be weds reading this are only planning on getting married just the once?

Well once is nowhere near enough for some. The Telegraph reports that a Georgia Minister, Bishop Anthony Owens (35) who served two years in prison on bigamy charges for having eight wives has been arrested over accusations of trying to marry at least four more! Officials say there is no evidence that he divorced the previous eight.

Dear me!

Eco Friendly Weddings

The Church of England has published a new guide to encourage to-be weds to reject the extravagant culture surrounding weddings and to embrace a more simplistic approach.

The Making The Most of Weddings publication offers suggestions to curtail both the financial expenditure and the environmental impact of a wedding. Suggestions include:

• fair-trades material could be used to make the dress
• buy a second-hand dress from a charity shop, to be returned after the day
  
• organic food to be served at the reception
• guests to bring a bottle
• gift list to be in association with a charity

Whilst some of these suggestions and others might not have popular appeal, bare in mind that recent figures estimate that the average cost of a UK wedding is about £17,000!

79 Years And Counting!

We thought that we would start this weddings blog off with a post that will be inspirational to all you nearly weds.

On May 26th, the UKs current longest married couple, Frank and Anita Milford will celebrate their 79th wedding anniversary. The couple married on May 26th, 1928 at Torpoint Registry Office in Cornwall. Mr Milford was earning the princely sum of £2.35 a week and saved up for months in order to afford his brides-to-be £6 diamond engagement ring.

The couples advice for other couples is simple: make time for a little romance everyday. Anita says

Couples these days don't last because they don't take enough time for each other, there isn't enough respect. Love is about give and take.

The couple have their eye on the record for recorded longest-ever marriage. Percy and Florence Arrowsmith, of Hereford, were married for just 80 years!