Marriage rates have fallen to their lowest since records began - but love is still very much in the air in Oxfordshire.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics show that while the number of unmarried adults rose in 2006, the number who chose to marry fell, producing the lowest marriage rates since they were first calculated in 1862.

Across England and Wales, marriages fell by four per cent in 2006 - compared with 2005 - to 236,980.

In Oxfordshire the number of weddings recorded by the registration service also dipped slightly in 2006/07, to 2,007 marriages, compared to 2,076 in 2005/06.

But the tide is now turning and weddings are up this year by 159 to 2,166 (2007/08).

Jonathan Nash, deputy superintendent registrar for Oxfordshire County Council, said: "Numbers may be down across the country but we are not reflecting that here. And although we do not yet know the full wedding figure, including church services, everything points to us bucking the national trend here in Oxfordshire.

"We think Oxfordshire manages to do this partly because of its position - we are on the M40, the A34 and M4 and that makes us very popular with people from London and further north who love our idyllic locations.

"The England player John Terry marrying at Blenheim Palace last year has even made us popular with grooms!

"And, from our visits to all the major wedding shows, we believe this trend will continue - People are booking weddings in churches and civil premises and it's very good news all round."

Sam Davies owns The Sassy Wedding Company in Chipping Norton. She said: "Love is definitely very much in the air here in Oxfordshire - my business is proof!

"It is only 12 months old and it has already performed twice as well as I had hoped. I know a lot of girls got engaged at Christmas and are getting married this year.

"And while the summer was once the main wedding season, it now stretches across the whole year, with many of the ladies who will be wearing my dresses getting married towards the end of this year too."

Fabulous Flowers, which has branches in Oxford and Abingdon, is also looking forward to a blooming wedding season.

Joint owner Gary Cooper said: "Weddings are definitely up in Oxford this year and it's great news for us.

"We have been running for four years so the increase could be partly due to reputation building, but I think most businesses would agree that the number of weddings seem to have increased this year.

"As well as lots of local people, there are lots of people who return to Oxford because it has so many fabulous venues and many want to marry in their old universities."

Bride-to-be Sally Metcalf, 40, from Southmoor, proposed to her fiancé Stephen, 39, on February 29 this year while they were on the London Eye.

The couple have three children between them, and when they marry in May 2009, it will be Sally's second marriage and Stephen's first.

Ms Metcalf said: "I'm surprised the marriage rates have fallen so far nationally, but I'm very pleased people are still tying the knot here in Oxfordshire. I think marriage is very important and I'm really looking forward to my wedding."

Further information can be found on the National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk/popest