What are the average highest costs of a wedding?

Couples often don’t know where to start when creating their wedding budget. Every couple and every wedding is different however there are significant costs across UK weddings that average out to be the most significant. You may believe that you have a good idea of what the most significant are although you may be surprised to find out the average cost. Below I have put together the top 5 wedding costs from The 2019 National Wedding Survey by Hitched, this will give you a good understanding of what to expect when planning your main outgoing costs for your wedding.

Wedding Venue

It will no doubt not be a surprise that the venue came in at the highest individual cost with an average of £5,406. With the venue being the foundations of your big day you want to make sure you create an appropriate budget that matches the importance of this part of your day.

The Honeymoon

Even though more and more couples decide to ask for donations towards their honeymoon instead of traditional gifts couples still preplan a hefty £4,645 into their own budget for this. If you want that luxurious dream holiday of a lifetime there is a high price to pay, it certainly would be a holiday you would never forget.

Food

If you have attended weddings recently yourself, think what were the top things that you remember about the wedding good or bad? It is extremely rare that I speak with guests from recent weddings and even weddings from the past that don’t mention food as one of the main things they remember. Couples often go the extra mile with planning their wedding breakfast and evening food to ensure maximum enjoyment for them and their guests, this can explain how the average for 2019 was £3,887 on food, with an extra £292 just on the cake!

The Engagement Ring

It may come as no surprise that the undoubtedly most important jewellery you will ever own comes in 4th at £2,419. The initial cost can originally sound like a bank breaker but when you take into consideration the years that this has to last and in as close a condition as it was when you bought it, you can see how this is such an investment.

Drink

It is no secret that with most UK weddings one of the guests main priority is to know where the drink will be coming from and how much is the average pint or glass of wine at your venue. Couples want themselves and their guests to be able to let their hair down and enjoy their special day, which is why most couples ensure they factor in providing drink for their guests where their budget will allow. There are different timings in a typical wedding that it is now very popular to provide drinks for your guests, such as a cocktail during the drink reception, wine for the wedding breakfast, Champagne for the speeches and maybe even some money behind the bar to get the evening reception started. With all of this, you can see how the average cost adds up to £1,587.

I believe these averages reflect the importance of these top 5 significant outgoings of your big day, even if these average costs are way out of your budget you can still prioritise these individual elements when it comes to allocating your budget. I would be interested to know if any of these have come as a surprise to you and if this is similar to what you have planned for your own budget?