The average age of Irish brides has been revealed

Gone are the days when people were married with kids by their 25th birthday. Women in Ireland are now waiting until they're older and have advanced in their careers before settling down.

A new report has revealed that Irish women are waiting until their late 30s to get married.

The Central Statistics Office revealed that the ages of brides and grooms are rising in Ireland.

The average bride marries at 36 and the average groom ties the knot at 37.

There were 19,680 marriages in Ireland in 2024, with 325 male same-sex weddings and 343 female same-sex marriages.

The report also revealed that the most popular time of year to get married was August.

Hearing that the average Irish bride was 36 years old last year has completely rewired my brain. 36 is the new 26 and 26 is the new 16. We are all just teenagers

— Sorcha 🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@sorcham12) April 29, 2025

January was the least popular month to tie the knot, which is no surprise when you consider how gloomy it is.

The average couple is spending between €25,000 and €36,000 on their weddings in Ireland.

More couples are eloping due to the rising costs of Irish weddings

According to wedding expert Sara Kennedy, Ireland has always been the place where American couples come to elope, but things have flipped.

She explained that more and more Irish couples are heading away to tie the knot because of how romantic it is.

“Ireland has always been a world-renowned destination for elopements particularly with the US market looking to say ‘I do’ on the Irish coastline. However, there has been a strong expansion of this to Irish couples. Don’t get me wrong, Irish couples have been eloping for a long time but it’s at a much higher pace.

The trends started to change after the pandemic because so many couples let go of the assumption that every wedding had to follow a standard formula.

“During Covid, everything had to be stripped back to its raw form which is a legal ceremony. It made couples think differently.

“Couples also saw how lovely an elopement can be. It basically showed couples there is a different way you can do things,” Sara shared.