Feb, not June, is top PH wedding month
Fewer June brides, more Valentine vows.
June may no longer be the most popular wedding month for Filipino couples as more and more choose to get married in the “love month” of February, according to government data.
The Commission on Population and Development (CPD), citing 2023 figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, said February saw the highest number of marriages at 52,501 that year, or 12.7 percent of the 414,213 total registered marriages in the country.
This was followed by December with 43,966 marriages. June only came in third with 43,295.
Fourth was January (37,887), followed by the summer months of May (37,065), March (36,273) and April (33,661).
Valentine weddings
The CPD, previously known as the Population Commission (PopCom), noted that Feb. 14 or Valentine’s Day was consistently the day with the highest number of marriages for over a decade from 2009 to 2023, except in 2021.
November, meanwhile, remained the least favorite with 20,525 in 2023 and 23,862 in 2022.
Among the 17 regions, Calabarzon was considered a wedding hotspot, recording 60,541 marriages or 14.6 percent of the total marriages.
Two more regions with relatively large populations also reported high numbers: National Capital Region with 51,892, and Central Luzon with 47,684.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on the other hand, had the lowest number with only 2,162.
Aspirational
The CPD noted the decrease in Filipino couples getting married after an uptick in 2021 and 2022 following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Based on PSA data, the number of registered marriages has been going down for three consecutive years, with the provisional data for 2024 recording only 320,524 unions—down by 22.6 percent from 2023.
An earlier CPD study found that most Filipino couples considered cohabitation or a live-in setup as a more practical and beneficial arrangement. They viewed marriage—whether church or civil—as an aspiration.
“The decline in marriages reflects changing realities as families of today come in many forms,” CPD executive director Lisa Grace Bersales said.
“[But] while we uphold marriage as a sacred institution, we must also protect couples who choose alternative arrangements and ensure the welfare of every individual, ensuring no family is left behind in our nation’s development,” she added.
‘Arduous task’
Based on the study, “logistical difficulty” was among the reasons why Filipino couples chose not to get married. They found the process of completing requirements and filing for marriage certificates an “arduous task.”
“Working on the requirements meant that they had to be absent from work to request or file documents in government agencies, which they would not be able to afford since absences mean a loss in income. They would only find hope to marry in the future when finances are more stable and only through mass weddings,” it said.
For some couples, differences in religious perspective also affected their decision to get married.
