Irish Couples Spend on Average €24,427 on their Big Day, says results of weddingsonline survey

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Irish couples spend on average €24,427 on their Big Day

weddingsonline, the country’s most popular wedding website have just announced the findings of their latest Irish wedding survey. It was based on over 2,000 participants and took place in January 2017.

The average total budget for a wedding including the honeymoon is up 8% on last year at €24,427. Half of couples surveyed admitted to going over budget. 17% look to take out a loan to help cover the cost and 21% share the costs with their parents. Religious weddings are still the most popular type of wedding ceremony (70%) however humanist weddings are on the rise, up 30% on last year (13% of weddings). Civil ceremonies also remain popular with 17% of couples opting for this style of ceremony.

This year’s findings from the weddingsonline survey capture the current attitudes towards weddings in Ireland.

• The average budget for a wedding including honeymoon is €24,427 (up 8% on last year).
• Friday and Saturday weddings are equally popular this year with Friday weddings on the rise in general.
• The summer months are still the most popular time to tie the knot with July and August topping the polls (12.6% each) followed by September (11.8%) and June (11.5%).
• December is still the most popular month for engagements (24%) followed by the autumn months.
• More and more couples are enjoying long engagements with over 25% of engaged couples waiting more than 2 years to get married. The average planning journey lasts 19 months.
• Religious ceremonies are still the most popular (70%); however, they are down 4% on last year while humanist ceremonies (13% of weddings) are up 30%. Civil ceremonies also remain popular with 17% of all weddings.
• On average couples invite 159 guests to their Big Day and 26% opt for a bigger celebration with over 200 guests.
• The average price per guest for a meal is €66 (a 7.5% increase on last year) and 24.5% of couples spend over €80.
• 60% of couples use their savings to fund their wedding, 21% get help from their parents and 17% take out a loan to help cover costs.
• Half of the couples surveyed went over budget with 15% spending over 5K more than they had planned.
• The average age for brides tying the knot is 31 years of age while the groom’s average age is 33 years of age.
• On average, brides choose 3 bridesmaids.
• Wedding spend is on the rise across the board with couples splurging 26% more than last year on their band, 9% more on their venue and 8% more on a photographer.
• The hotel venue is still the most popular choice (66%), followed by the country house (20%) and then castle (9%).
• There’s a large increase in the number of people having their speeches before the meal (40%). 30% opt to have them after the meal and 25% have them in between courses. 5% opt to have no speeches at all.
• 6% of surveyed couples got married abroad – 43% considered a destination wedding but preferred to get hitched at home instead.
• 91% of couples honeymoon abroad with 56% waiting a few months after the wedding before they head off on their holiday of a lifetime.
• 53% of couples opt for a mini-moon in Ireland directly after the wedding (21% increase on last year).
• The average cost of a honeymoon is €5,028 (up 6% on last year).
• The most popular honeymoon destinations are The United States, the Maldives and Italy.
• Social Media and online platforms continue to play an important part in the planning process for modern brides and grooms. Couples use Pinterest (72%) and Facebook (70%) to help them plan their wedding. We’re also seeing a rise in popularity for social media channels Instagram (32%) and Snapchat (5%).
• Some of the regrets expressed by the surveyed couples included not booking a videographer, listening to other people’s opinions too much, bringing too many people dress shopping and not wearing comfy shoes!
• The average spend on each category was as follows:

ENDS

About weddingsonline

Launched in 2000, weddingsonline has become Ireland’s busiest wedding community and recently expanded into the UAE and India. 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 planning tips and advice. Over 1000 wedding industry suppliers have made weddingsonline their marketing partner in Ireland. weddingsonline acquired Irish wedding website Mrs2Be in May 2016, award-winning wedding planning software Moposa in December 2016 and works in partnership with popular Facebook group, ‘Help I’m Getting Married’.

For further media information please contact:

Jonathan Bryans | Tel: 01 905 9680 or email: [email protected]

Main photo courtesy of Couple Photography

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