Christmas Day used to be a popular day to get married.

World History

N owadays, December is the most common month for engagements worldwide, but not for weddings — that would be October, when roughly 17% of betrothed couples tie the knot. The final month of the year is one of the least popular times to get married — December ceremonies account for only about 5% of weddings total — but that wasn't always the case. In Victorian Britain, Christmas Day was a particularly popular occasion for weddings.

People didn't get hitched during the holidays for the most romantic of reasons. Rather, it was often because Christmas and Boxing Day (December 26) were the only two consecutive days of the year that young, working-class couples were certain to be off work in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most people worked six days a week and couldn't afford the kind of grand nuptials that have since become common, so group weddings were regularly performed. Christmas ceremonies saw a resurgence during World War II, when soldiers on leave for the holidays took the opportunity to tie the knot before returning to active duty.

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By the Numbers

Holiday spending in 2023, a record

$994.1 billion

People who celebrate Christmas worldwide

2 billion+

Did you know?

Not all Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25.

The actual date of Jesus Christ's birth is unknown, though most historians and theologians think it probably wasn't December 25. Even the year is uncertain: 1 CE would be the obvious assumption, though many scholars believe sometime between 6 BCE and 4 BCE is more likely. The December 25 date was chosen by Roman Catholics in 336 CE, perhaps in an attempt to to weaken the impact of pagan celebrations that already took place around the winter solstice. However, some Orthodox Christians in countries such as Armenia, Romania, and Russia celebrate Christmas on January 7 because they still use the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar (the timekeeping system that most of the world uses). Which is to say that, according to their calendar, they do observe Christmas on December 25.

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