Attending a wedding may be a joyous occasion to celebrate love, but it is also more expensive than ever, new research has found.
According to annual wedding research from American Express, British wedding guests will spend an average of £391 each in 2019 - nearly a third more than last year.
As a nation, that means that attending weddings in 2019 will cost Brits £5.5bn.
Understandably, hotels are the largest expense for wedding guests, costing an average of £72, Amex research found, followed by outfit expenses and gifts, which cost attendees £68 and £66, respectively.
And while stag or hen parties are a fun part of the wedding celebrations, an invite also means spending £58, a £16 increase from last year.
Additional costs of attending a wedding include travel, drinks and hair and beauty, according to Amex.
Interestingly, the report, which surveyed 2,000 adults, found that the number of weddings Brits are expected to attend in 2019 has declined to just one ceremony a year, a decrease from the three ceremonies in 2018.
According to Amex, the cost increase of £88 per person since 2018 likely has to do with the decline in wedding invites, which mean a bigger budget “set aside for gifts, hotels and outfits”.
To deal with the increasing costs, 48 per cent of respondents told Amex they purchase their wedding outfits on sale, with the same amount planning to use offers such as “hotel deals or flight sales to save money”.
These are the costs of attending a UK wedding in 2019, compared to 2018.
Hotel: £72 (up from £54)
Outfits: £68 (up from £50)
Gifts: £66 (up from £57)
Hen/stag do: £58 (up from £42)
Travel: £57 (up from £42)
Drinks: £45 (up from £36)
Hair and beauty: £25 (up from £22)
Total: £391 (up from £303)
