PRESS RELEASE
Couples move away from traditional values in 2014 with 69% of couples covering all wedding costs themselves
weddingsonline, the country’s most popular wedding website have just announced the findings of their latest survey, the largest Irish wedding survey of its kind.
Traditional values are changing in 2014 with 69% of couples footing the wedding bill on their own and 15% with the help of the bride’s parents. Civil weddings are also getting more and more popular with 1 in 4 couples opting for a civil ceremony over a church wedding. (1 in 5 in 2013)
This year’s findings from the weddingsonline survey, based on over 2,145 participants in January, capture the current attitudes towards weddings in Ireland.
- 69% of couples are footing the wedding bill on their own and 15% with the help of the bride’s parents
- Midweek weddings are on the rise with 54% of couples opting for a wedding Monday to Friday
- 89% of those getting married are aged between 24 & 35 years of age
- 19% of males are aged 36+
- August is still the top month to get married (15% of weddings)
- May was the 2nd most popular month to get married (13% of weddings) – possibly due to more favourable weather conditions
- A significant 63% of all respondents still opted for the more traditional hotel wedding while 20% chose the increasingly popular country house and 8% a castle.
- Social Media has been a useful tool for the modern bride and groom with 50% using Facebook, 53% using Pinterest and 93% using weddingsonline to help them with their preparations
- December engagements down 4% from last year’s high of 26%, however it is still the most popular month to get engaged.
- 22% of couples waited 24+ months between their engagement and their wedding
- The average total budget for a wedding including the honeymoon cost in 2014 is €21,666 (up 2% on last year)
- The average spend on each category in 2014 was as follows:
Venue €9,716 Dress €1,494 Band €1,750 DJ €393 Photographer €1,438 Videographer €936 Honeymoon €3,916 Bridesmaids €534 Cake €329 Favours €256 MakeUp €285 Hair €241 Suits €669 Décor & Flowers €477 Transport €439
- 39% went over budget
- 89% will choose to honeymoon abroad while the remaining 11% will honeymoon in Ireland
- 10% of those surveyed got married abroad
- 6% of those surveyed employed a wedding planner
Some of the regrets expressed by the surveyed brides and grooms included letting budgets spiral and having too many bridesmaids or groomsmen.
ENDS
weddingsonline was launched in 2000 and has since become Ireland’s busiest wedding community. Over 80% of all engaged couples in Ireland use weddingsonline at some point in their wedding plans. weddingsonline is popular for its lively forums, online wedding directory, competitions, real weddings and daily tips and advice on everything from wedding dress trends to budget friendly wedding ideas. Over 1000 wedding industry suppliers have made weddingsonline their marketing partner.
weddingsonline will be going through the survey results in more detail at the weddingsonline Annual Conference which is taking place at Clontarf Castle Hotel on 10th February 2014. For more information or to book a place please see the following link: 2014 Conference – Your Best Year Yet
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Main Image by Andrew O’ Dwyer Photography
