After we marked February 22, 2022 (22/2/22) earlier in the week, many people chose to celebrate the day of twos by getting married. But, this was certainly not the most popular day to get married in Switzerland - for that, we need to go back in time, to the 1990s.

One single day in 1999 saw the most Swiss marriages on record

While not everyone chooses to get married on a special day, many people find the idea adds a certain something to their wedding. Some of the most popular days to get married in Switzerland have been August 8, 1988 (8/8/88), August 8, 2008 (8/8/08), and July 7, 2017 (7/7/17). But these were still not number one. 

The most popular day ever for getting married in Switzerland was September 9, 1999 (9/9/99), perhaps made even more special by the fact that the new millennium was rapidly approaching. Data from the Federal Statistical Office also shows that people prefer to get married in the summer, rather than during the cold months, and that people much prefer to get married on a Friday or at the weekend, than during the working week.  

Marrying on special dates may make for unhappier couples

If you didn’t choose to get married on a special day, don’t worry - you may be better off for it! A study in the Netherlands found that people who chose to get married on significant dates actually had a greater chance of getting divorced - almost 18 percent more likely, when compared with couples that got married on “normal” days.

In recent years, the marriage rate in Switzerland has declined, with some analysts naming unmarried expats as a key cause. While the decline in Switzerland’s marriage dropped by around 4,6 percent between 2018 and 2019, the decline in marriage for internationals who live in Switzerland was significantly higher at around 13,1 percent. The same goes for divorces too - with divorces for Swiss couples on the up, at around a 0,4 percent increase, compared to the divorce rate for international couples, increasing by around 10,4 percent. 

Though there is no clear reason for these trends in Switzerland, they are still in line with the figures for many other countries across Europe. Some analysts put the changes down to things such as declining interest in religion, longer life expectancy, and people having a greater interest in their careers.