weddingsonline, the country’s most popular wedding website have just announced the findings of their latest Irish wedding survey. It was based on over 641 participants and took place in January 2025.
The survey revealed that the average spend for a wedding is €34,392.00 (up 3.96% on 2024) and the average guest meal price per person was €93.00.
Couples rely heavily on reviews and recommendations (51%), selecting their favourite choice (28%), with only 11% stating that price was their deciding factor.
This year’s findings from the weddingsonline survey capture the current attitudes towards weddings in Ireland.
- The average budget for a wedding is €34,392 (not including honeymoon).
- Friday and Saturday are still the most popular days for weddings (71%), with Thursday (16%) and Sunday (4%) weddings becoming more popular.
- The busiest months for weddings are July to September (37%), followed by April to June (33%), with 9% of our participants newly married in 2024, 49% getting married in 2025 and 35% in 2026.
- The most popular month to pop the question is December (23%). Engagements in other months range between 5% and 10%.
- Couples are having longer engagements with 41% of engaged couples waiting more than 2 years to get married and just 7% of engagements shorter than 12 months.
- 36% of ceremonies are church weddings.
- On average, couples are inviting 154 guests to their wedding.
- 31% of couples had their parents help pay for their wedding and 34% got a loan.
- 51% of couples surveyed went over budget with 78% spending over 5K more than they had intended to.
- The average age for couples tying the knot is 35 for men and 33 for women.
- The average number of people in the wedding party (including the couple) was 8.
- The hotel venue remains the most popular choice at 59%, followed by the country house at 20% and then castles at 13%.
- 44% of couples surveyed had speeches before the meal, with only 25% after the meal, 23% during the meal, and 8% not having speeches at all.
- 63% of couples paid for accommodation for their parents, 48% paid for the wedding party‘s accommodation, with 22% not paying for anyone.
- The most popular wedding counties are Meath, Kildare, Cork, and Dublin.
- The most popular locations for destination weddings are Portugal, Italy and Spain.
- The average honeymoon budget was €5251.
- 90% of couples honeymoon abroad with 70% waiting a few months after the wedding before they head off on their honeymoon.
- 52% of couples will take a short break in Ireland after the wedding.
- The most popular honeymoon destinations are USA, Spain, Italy, Greece, Maldives and Mexico.
- The deciding factor for which suppliers to book was reviews and recommendations (51%), favourite choice (28%), with only 11% stating that price was their deciding factor.
The average spend in each category was as follows:
Engagement Rings: €3095
Wedding Rings: €1672
Band: €2673
DJ: €711
Photographer: €2108
Videographer: €1779
Content Creator: €1270
Wedding Dress: €2054
Ceremony Music: €593
Drinks Reception Entertainment: €661
Evening Entertainment: €968
Celebrant or other Officiant: €504 (this figure includes priests and HSE registrars at varying costs / voluntary contributions)
Makeup (bride only): €264
Wedding Party Makeup (per person): €126
Hairstyling (per bride): €145
Wedding Party Hairstyling (per person): €114
Wedding Planner: €2018
Wedding Party Dresses (per person): €362
Beauty Treatments (teeth, botox, tanning): €608
Accessories: €374
Price per suit: €400
Average number of suits bought: 4
Photobooth / Selfie mirror: €558
Wedding Car: €625
Wedding Cake: €480
Décor (Ceremony): €527 (this figure may include flowers)
Décor (Venue): €719 (this figure may include flowers)
Flowers: €1071 (some flower spend may be included in decor)
Invites: €298
Foodie Treats: €395
Ceremony booklets (per booklet): €5
Hen & Stag (per person): €254
For further information please contact:
Jonathan Bryans
01 963 0432
A big thank you to all our respondents and a huge congratulations to our voucher winner, Ailise Hogan.
