As this century’s last special date 12.12.12 approaches, destination wedding site MarryAbroad.co.uk has recorded a 15 per cent increase in enquiries, year on year, for weddings taking place outside of the UK’s wedding ‘season’.

The increase shows couples are moving away from the tradition of marrying during the standard wedding season, between May and September.

“The increase in popularity of exotic settings and beach ceremonies amongst UK couples, in effect means that a wedding abroad can happen at any time of year. In fact, for some destinations, weather will definitely be better out of season – an important factor when choosing to marry overseas,” says Charlotte Hand, Joint-Founder of MarryAbroad.co.uk.

So why is this happening?
The top five reasons for marrying out of season is on the up, according to MarryAbroad.co.uk:

Special dates
Couples in the last few years have loved the originality of the recent special dates – 10.10.10, 11.11.11 and this week’s 12.12.12. Easy to remember and hard to forget, these dates have contributed to this increase, in out of season weddings.

To bag a bargain
Although over the past few years air tax has been steadily rising for the travelling UK public, couples who look hard enough are still finding bargain fares out of season – on deal and meta-search sites such as Momondo.co.uk, Cheapflights and Travel Supermarket.

Non-compete
An out of season wedding is less likely to clash with friends’ nuptials – so hence more likely to suit mutual friends’ diaries.

Yuletide unions
Christmas-themed weddings are also becoming more popular, with destinations Iceland, Canada and Copenhagen currently on the rise.

Winter sun
With each recent year UK summer weather becoming less reliable, couples wanting guaranteed rays on their special day are looking south of the equator. Wedding planners in destinations such as Thailand – where warm beach weddings can easily take place all year round – have seen a definite increase in UK enquiries, year on year, according to the site.