"I personally think marriage is still a good way to show everyone else that we are committed and together but we are quite happy in our relationship.
"We have no doubt that we will never be without each other. I don't really see the rush for it because it's like we are already married but just without the paperwork," she said.
"Of course, it would be nice to have a big diamond ring and big wedding dress, as any girl wants, but we're happy with the way things are."
Ms Howell said she and Mr Pepperell enjoyed spending money on doing up their house or trips away.
Marriage celebrant Wendy Barton said she had not experienced any drop in marriages but noticed some couples taking longer to tie the knot.
"Usually it's money or they find out they're pregnant and want to wear a beautiful dress. So they wait and have a baby, then they find out they're pregnant again so it gets put off," Ms Barton said.
"For young couples it's about building their future together. A lot of second-time-rounders have usually had big life events like cancer, etc, so it's much more about appreciation of what's in their life."
Ms Barton said she had also noticed more visitors to the region getting married.
The number of divorces and civil unions remained fairly constant during the past six years. About 60 civil unions were made in the North Island, excluding Auckland and Wellington, and about 350 divorces were filed in the Tauranga District Court a year.
Les Simmonds from Relationship Services said in the past, marriage was a social imperative but that was changing.
"Twenty to 30 years ago it was a social imperative to get married for a whole host of reasons, that's by and large gone. Also, church attendance has dropped off dramatically over the years, marriage is basically seen as a religious or spiritual thing to do that's less important for people now."
Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said marriage had been on the decrease for a number of years and New Zealand's defacto relationship rates were some of the highest in the developed world.
"I think one of the main reasons that people don't get married is the cost, they reckon the average [wedding] costs around $30,000. A lot of couples are simply saying 'why pay that expense when we can put that towards a house?'."
By the numbers Marriages in Tauranga:
2007 - 610
2008 - 598
2009 - 558
2010 - 544
2011 - 536
2012 - 511
Divorces in Tauranga:
2007 - 453
2008 - 373
2009 - 320
2010 - 360
2011 - 338
2012 - 352
Civil unions in Tauranga (as part of the greater North Island outside of Wellington and Auckland):
2007 - 66
2008 - 64
2009 - 56
2010 - 55
2011 - 60
2012 - 50
- Statistics New Zealand
