The popularity of church weddings in Finland has seen a significant decline in the past two decades, according to the National Church Council's figures.
While there has been a decline in the number of marriages in general, those who do officially tie the knot are increasingly choosing civil ceremonies.
Last year, only 35 percent of marriages in the country were officiated at churches, while the proportion of church weddings in 2003 was 64 percent.
In 2003 there were a total of 17,247 church weddings, and last year there were just 7,323, according to the council.
Church councillor Petri Määtä acknowledged things have changed.
"Church weddings are linked to major celebrations," he said, adding that he thinks people may consider civil ceremonies to be more suitable for smaller weddings.
According to Marja Saantola, chaplain at the Naantali Church in Southwestern Finland, church weddings may have fallen out of favour due to concerns about money.
"Financial situations may have affected the number of church weddings, because people tend to spend a lot of money on them these days," Saantola explained.
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