UK couples are spending £20,000 less than you think on their weddings

UK couples actually spend about £12,000 ($15,447) on their wedding day, according to an extensive study of the wedding industry — £20,000 less than the widely reported figure.

Wedding directory Guides for Brides conducted a survey of over 18,000 couples using their online wedding planning software. It found that while brides in London may expect to pay about £30,000 ($38,618), most pay less than £12,000. These results are supported by the average costs of over 3,000 venues and wedding suppliers, according to the company.

This figure counters other, more regionally-based surveys and reports suggesting costs of over £32,000, which Guides for Brides said could be unnecessarily putting couples off getting married.

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Alison Hargreaves, director of Guides for Brides, explained that London weddings, and some who spend over £100,000 on elaborate weddings with extensive guest lists, may have distorted past studies on what the majority spend by pushing up the average.

“Every bride and groom wants a fantastic wedding day, but it doesn’t need to cost as much as people have been led to believe,” Hargreaves said.

“We were the very first online wedding publisher in the UK and constantly keep our finger on the pulse when it comes to wedding information and trends. Our report shows that the cost of marriage is still within reach for the typical UK couple,” she added.

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While high-end and widely-publicised weddings are great for the wedding industry, and they can help create a sense of aspiration for couples with more moderate budgets, the “Pinterest effect” can often backfire, Guides for Brides explained. A separate online poll of over 400 people revealed that 83% of respondents believed the increasing cost of weddings “puts people off marriage”.

“Revealing the true cost of marriage in the UK should give more people the boost in confidence they need to plan their own wedding, even if they don’t have a £32,000 budget,” said Hargreaves.