In questions to Church Commissioners in Parliament yesterday, the DUP’s Jim Shannon asked whether the Church would be willing to consider cutting the cost of conducting wedding ceremonies on its premises to make them a more attractive option.

“As we all know, the price for marriages is becoming exorbitant,” he said.

Andrew Selous, Tory MP for South West Bedfordshire, suggested a link between the cost of weddings and the decline in the number of young people getting married.

“We have strong Government support for marriage and 90% of young people say they want to get married,” he said.

“Yet the number of marriages has halved since 1972 and it’s the lowest since 1895. This is a serious issue of social justice.”

He asked to see examples of parishes that have increased the number of weddings “with good preparation and after care”.

“And will he [Tony Baldry, representing the Church Commissioners] encourage the archbishops to ensure that there is more of the same?” he said.

Mr Baldry, Tory MP for Banbury, spoke in defence of the Church’s commitment to increasing the number of church weddings.

He pointed to the Church of England’s Wedding Project package of training and resources now being used in two-thirds of dioceses, and recent changes introduced by the Church to broaden the choice of church venues available for couples wishing to marry.

“I assure you that the archbishops, bishops and indeed all the Church of England believe strongly in marriage and want to encourage couples to consider getting married in church,” he said.

“Every church wants to welcome couples who wish to get married in church.”

He also defended the cost of wedding in a church, saying that the fee paid to churches for conducting a marriage was “actually very modest in comparison with the overall costs”.

“We are very keen to ensure that no one should feel in any way deterred from getting married in church as a result of the fees that are payable,” he said.