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 THE VEILED COST OF WEDDINGS 22/08/2005
The father of the bride expects to be stung in the wallet when his special little girl walks up the aisle, with the average UK wedding costing £17,0001. He does not, however, spare a thought for the people who will be expected to attend the wedding. A new study released today, by UK debit card, Maestro, reveals that guests at the average UK wedding collectively spend around £30,0002, that's almost twice as much as the cost of the wedding itself. All rise, here comes the bill The statistics show that the average guest can expect to spend a total of £300 on all the expenses that a wedding entails. This figure rises to £465 for those included in the pre-wedding celebrations as well as the day itself. Not only do Britons shell out an average of £55 on the compulsory wedding gift, costs quickly mount up with the average Brit spending £90 on travel and accommodation, and close to £100 on a new outfit to impress the other guests, topped off with an envy inducing hat. In addition, guests can each expect to spend £30 on alcohol, as they toast the success of the happy couple3. Those in the North-East are the most wedding-fashion conscious, spending £40 more than the national average on their wedding outfits. The most generous guests to invite are Londoners, who spend £10 more on wedding gifts than everyone else. Yet the big day is not the only expense associated with matrimony, as many Brits also attend the pre-wedding fun that is the traditional hen and stag do. With hen and stag nights becoming more inventive than just a trip to the local pub, Brits spend around £50 just on getting to their venue and staying overnight. No final night of singledom would be complete without the bawdy entertainment, complemented by comedy outfits costing a total of £42 on average. Fun loving Londoners spend 50 per cent more than the rest on comedy outfits. UK stags and hens also spend £3 on hangover cures for the morning after, such as fry-ups and Virgin Mary's4. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the average stag party attendee spends around £30 more than his female counterpart with the average man totting up a £185 bill compared to the £155 spent by women. Gifts Not only are men prepared to fork out more on seeing their friend safely into the warm bosom of wedded bliss, they are also far more generous when it comes to buying the wedding gift. The average man will spend around £65 on gifts, compared to women who spend under £50. The fairer sex is also twice as likely to scour the wedding list for the cheapest item, and 50 per cent more likely to use internet auction sites such as eBay in the quest for a bargain when gift shopping. The most sought after wedding gift of all, is the predictable set of cutlery or crockery, although 15 per cent of Brits are bucking the trend by choosing more imaginative presents such as a gift experiences, which could entail jungle trekking or balloon riding. Interestingly, while the Scots might at first glance appear to let the side down by being twice as likely to re-wrap an existing possession to give as a wedding gift than anyone else, they are in fact among the most generous people in the UK when it comes to paying for wedding gifts, spending around £65 each on that special something. That's second only to London. Nigel Turner, Marketing Director of Maestro UK, said: "The most popular wedding in Britain is still the traditional church ceremony and this comes with all the expenses you might expect. Weddings have always been a time to splash out, but we believe that it is important to budget sensibly while still joining in the celebration and merriment. "Low cost gifts can often mean as much to the happy couple as an expensive one. For example, filming the ceremony and turning it into an everlasting gift will not only save you money but will also ensure that the bride and groom do not forget your contribution as soon as the honeymoon is over. " Love is in the Air Romance, it would seem, is not reserved exclusively for the bride and groom when it comes to weddings, indeed the expense of attending a wedding is often offset by the benefit to the average Brit's love life, with almost five per cent claiming to have met a new partner at a wedding. Competitive Londoners maximise their chances further, as they are twice as likely to beat other guests in the tradition of catching the bouquet, which is said to indicate a happy wedding of their own. Yet the fun does not stop there, as 20 per cent of Brits admit to having hit the jackpot by pulling the wedding trophy of the best man or maid of honour. However, for some guests, emotions become a bit too high with around two per cent admitting to getting into a fight at weddings. The most confrontational guests are the Scots, who are four times more likely to become involved in a brawl than the rest of the UK. NOTES TO EDITORS: Research was conducted by Experian among a sample of 1,200 people across Great Britain 1 You and Your Wedding Magazine - February 2005 4 Total breakdown of stag or hen night are as follows: For further information, please contact: | |
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