UK ranked one of the WORST places for LGBTQI+ weddings

The BEST Countries for LGBTQI+ Weddings

Wedding experts reveal the top ten countries for queer couples to tie the knot, based on the average cost of a wedding, and how safe each country is for LGBTQI+ couples

• July 17th 2023 marks ten years since The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, making same-sex marriages legal in both England and Wales

• The UK was the 12th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriages, 13 years after the Netherlands (2000) and 10 years after Belgium (2003)

• New index reveals Norway as the best country for queer weddings, based on average cost of a wedding, LGBTQI+ safety, and how long same-sex marriages have been legal

• The UK takes 20th place in list as best country for same-sex weddings

This July marks ten years since the UK became the 12th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, with England and Wales the first UK nations to do so. To celebrate the anniversary of the historic law change, wedding experts at Hitched.co.uk have analysed where the UK stands compared to the rest of the world when it comes to legal LGBTQI+ marriages.

Spoiler: it’s not great news for the UK.

Experts have compared data points including how long marriage has been legal for queer couples*, the average cost of a wedding in each country**, as well as the LGBTQI+ Travel Safety Score*** for each, to reveal the top 10 countries for LGBTQI+ weddings.

Top 10 Countries for LGBTQI+ Weddings

Norway takes the top spot as the best place for queer couples to get married, as it was one of the first five European countries to legalise gay marriage, is one of the cheapest countries to get married in, and has a high Travel Safety Score.

The Travel Safety Index is based on a number of lifestyle factors that affect LGBTQI+ people, including things like: protection against violence, workers rights, adoption recognition and transgender rights. Norway ranks fifth within this index created by Asher Ferguson, with a score of 358, while the UK sits at number 10 with a score of 342.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Norway since 2009, nine years after the Netherlands was the first country to pass this legislation, and the average cost of a wedding in Norway currently sits at £6,384 – a fraction of the average cost of a wedding in the UK, which Hitched revealed to be £18,400 in the latest National Wedding Survey.

Following Norway as the best place for queer weddings is Sweden, where same-sex marriage was legalised in the same year, but where the average cost of a wedding is slightly higher, at £8,074. Sweden sits at number two in the Travel Safety Index, after Canada.

Meanwhile, Canada is only ranked as the ninth best country for LGBTQI+ couples to get married, despite being one of the first countries to legalise gay marriages (2005), due to the much higher cost of a wedding, sitting at £117,828, according to Money.co.uk.

The UK ranks number 10 in the Travel Safety Index, but due to the late adoption of legal marriages for same-sex couples, does not make the list as one of the 10 best countries for LGBTQI+ weddings, according to Hitched. In fact, the UK sits at number 20 in the new index.

Zoe Burke, leading wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk says: “It’s really disappointing to see how far down the list the UK is when it comes to LGBTQI+ weddings, but we have always been quite far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to acceptance of many things that are quite honestly, basic human rights.

“There are currently only 34 countries where same-sex marriage is legal (according to Human Rights Campaign), to be at number 20 is really devastating – we can and should do better.

“While we continue to see great strides being made within the wedding industry here in the UK, there is obviously still a very long way to go to ensure that LGBTQI+ people are given the same opportunities, the same respect, and the same basic rights as cis-het couples.

“Love is love, after all. It’s quite possibly the one thing that everyone on the planet should agree on.”

For more information on planning an LGBTQI+ wedding, please visit: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/same-sex-weddings/