Over the last few years, there have been multiple factors that have influenced the way we plan our weddings, including a pandemic, social media trends and the cost of living crisis.
With this in mind, earlier this year we ran a survey across UK residents regarding all things weddings which allowed us to create our official 2024 Wedding Report, revealing eye-opening statistics such as:
2,000 UK residents took the survey, and to ensure that our findings were as accurate as possible, we surveyed a mix of those who are single, married and divorced, alongside several different age ranges.
Many Brits seem to be planning a budget wedding, with key findings including 89% of Brits thinking that the average cost of a wedding - which was £20,700 in 2023, is either expensive or very expensive. If respondents were to get married in the next two years, most (12%) chose £3,0001-£5000 as the amount they’d be most comfortable spending.
Over a third of Brits (36%) claim they’d get married aboard if they thought they could afford it, whilst 65% considered a 25-guest wedding in Cyprus, which averages at around £7,000, either affordable, cheap or very cheap.
Another key finding included that almost 20% of Brits claimed they would prefer to have a wedding with no children, whilst 36% would not want their wedding to be child-free.
In 2023, it was revealed that the average cost of a wedding in the UK now sat at £20,700, around two-thirds of Brits (63%) view this as very expensive, and 26% consider it to be expensive.
More women (91%) consider this to be expensive compared to men (76%). The youngest generation surveyed, 18-24-year-olds, were the least likely (43%) to view this cost as expensive - whilst it was 55-65-year-olds who were most likely to (75%) view the cost as expensive.
Survey respondents were asked how much they’d be comfortable spending if they were to get married in the next two years, with the most popular answer being £3,001-£5,000 (12%), followed by £1,001-£3,000 and £7,001-£10,000 (10%)
Only 1% of Brits would be comfortable with spending between £20,001-£25,000 on their wedding, which is the bracket the UK national average falls into.
When it came to how the cost of living crisis in the UK would affect how much they could spend on a wedding in the next two years, 33% said it would have a major impact on how much they would be able to spend, whilst 33% said it would have a significant impact.
More women (37%) than men (28%) believes that the crisis will have an affect on what they could spend on a wedding.
Respondents were asked how much they agreed with the statement “If I could afford it, I would like to get married abroad”. Overall, 36% of the respondents agreed with the statement, with 18-24-year-olds being the most likely to agree (63%) and the eldest generation, 65 and over, being the most likely to strongly disagree (48%)
However, despite so many Brits wanting their wedding abroad - many still have their concerns. 69% of Brits would be concerned about their friends and family not being able to afford flights or accommodation, whilst 55% of Brits believe weddings abroad to include more effort and planning.
5% of Brits also answered ‘other’ - with many of the answers under this voicing concern around the legality of getting married abroad.
We did ask where Brits would consider their ‘dream’ wedding location out of the locations The Wedding Travel Company service with many clearly wanting a beach wedding abroad as the most popular answer was The Caribbean (18%) followed by Italy (13%).
Photography came out on top of the wedding services Brits are the most likely to consider essential (43%). This was followed by catering for guests (40%), a wedding cake (32%) and entertainment such as a DJ (26%.
Bridesmaid makeup (4%) and bridesmaid hair (5%) were considered some of the least essential services, alongside hiring a wedding planner (6%)
Asking guests, especially those involved in the wedding party to contribute towards the cost of the wedding has become quite a controversial topic recently, especially amid the cost of living crisis.
The most popular answer was that respondents found it to be ‘very unfair’ (26%) - however 20% did also consider it to be ‘somewhat fair’. The younger generation seems to be the most likely to view this as fair with 39% saying they consider it ‘somewhat fair’ compared to only 11% of 65 and over.
Following on from this, the survey revealed that 63% of Brits were concerned about the costs that come with being involved in a wedding party, including the likes of financial contributions to hen and stag parties, and even to the wedding itself. This feeling also seemed to be equal among men and women.
25-34 year-olds are the most likely to be concerned, with 27% saying they strongly agreed with the phrase, whilst women (28%) were most likely to agree compared to men (22%).
There are many traditions when it comes to getting married - however, it’s some of the most popular that Brits now view as outdated.
33% of Brits now consider leaving for their honeymoon straight after the wedding as ‘outdated’ whilst 29% consider the bride and groom not seeing each other the night being the wedding as ‘outdated’
Other ‘outdated’ wedding traditions included weddings in churches (29%), brides tossing the bouquet and ring bearers (22%)
Especially with the rise of social media, we’ve seen many wedding trends become more and more popular. We put these forward to our respondents to find out which they’d be most interested in if they were to get married in the next 2 years.
38% said they’d be interested in the trend of not having to invite people you don’t know all that well, such as extended family and new partners of friends, whilst 20% said they’d be interested in a register office ceremony only. 18% claimed they’d be interested in a celebrant-led wedding.
Contact our dedicated team today if you’re interested in planning your dream wedding abroad. We're meticulous in our planning and will ensure that your day unfolds flawlessly, allowing you to savour every precious moment - there is no need to worry about the likes of catering, photography, hair & make up and decor with your bespoke packages tailored just for you.
Our passion lies in crafting experiences that reflect your love story. Our wedding planners will work closely with you to understand your preferences and cultural traditions, infusing them into every aspect of your special day.
