| Unveiling the Cost of Going to a Wedding... And there it is, that pristine white envelope. Hand tied with raffia, spilling sparkles all over your carpet and containing the long awaited invitation to your friend's wedding this summer. You had better warn your bank manager that he might need his inhaler on hand, as your next few bank statements are about to take the biggest bashing since you last moved house!
Travel abroad can add another £500 to the total, before we've not even reached the actual wedding day! Extravagant personal tastes can mean that we shell out up to £55 for a wedding gift featured on the happy couple's gift lists, plus up to £150 on hair and body treatments and a small fortune on accommodation on the wedding night, so we can have a couple of drinks at the reception. It's no wonder that several weddings over the course of a year can really make a dent in our finances. Luckily Wedding TV's resident financial expert Merryn Somerset-Webb is on hand to offer some sound advice for anyone who is attending a wedding (or seven!) this year...
Ladies, why not think about swapping or hiring? Rent a hat, unless you're going to a wedding where you are not going to meet people you know already, hats can be conspicuous and can only be worn to one wedding so share hats with friends or hire a hat from a designer, which means you can team it with an inexpensive dress you already own. All accessories can be swapped with friends and relatives. I have a beautiful Chinese silk coat that has been to about 20 weddings which I haven't even attended! There are also many dress agencies to rent a dress. People think this is a rather old fashioned idea but for balls and weddings it can be a lovely option hire a dress you would otherwise not be able to afford.
It's very different for guys; you should definitely buy a suit rather than hire one for £80 a time. As men always wear the same things at weddings and can get away with it easily. Regardless of whether you have summer or winter wedding to go to, investing in a classic suit means you'll be able to wear it for years. Go for a good quality, well cut suit. If you spend £300 - £500 on a good suit it will pay for itself over the year.
Wedding guests often make a big mistake with these, and spend too much money on a pair of shoes which we find ourselves trudging through fields and churchyard in, or dancing until 3am, and often kicked into a corner.
You can save lots of money in this area by doing it all yourself or getting ready with friends and giving each other manicures/pedicures. It's probably not a great idea to have a facial before the wedding anyway or you could have a breakout, it's better to get a face pack from your local dermatologist and relax in your own lounge the night before.
Hen dos these days seem to veer towards having a week's holiday and a drunken binge, when hen dos need only be about catching up with friends and sharing memories of your single life, I would suggest having it at someone's home and having a chef cater it for you, this works out so much cheaper and you can have a lovely, noisy time in the privacy of your own private dining room! Ultimately hen dos are not about new experiences, they are about the discussion of old experiences, So you can sit there and dedicate the whole night to the hen rather than spending loads of money in a bar in a town you don't know!
Costs for the men can also be kept down by sticking to local tried and tested venues like popular pubs and bars, or a restaurant where you can sit and talk until closing. It's all about coming in rather than going out- Stag nights don't have to be a vast party - that's for the wedding day!
If you are going abroad with a Hen or Stag party, don't buy new outfits! We all own a bikini already and the only people you're out to impress are the hen party- so why bother with a brand new wardrobe? Treat yourself to a new top or dress for the main night and save your pennies for the partying expenses like club entry, food and drinks... Once abroad on a stag or hen, try to get a kitty going so you know in advance how much money you're going to spend and it avoids costs spiralling out of control. Set the budget at what the least affluent members of the group can afford, in order to make sure everyone is able to manage it, otherwise it's rather unfair. Whatever you do- don't take credit cards, as you'll stop thinking of it as real money when you've had a few drinks! Where you can, save up in advance for Hen and Stag dos, and don't touch life savings! It's best to spend your monthly salary as you'll only be broke for a month at the most, rather than paying for credit card debt over a year. Stay in for a few weekends before the hen do if possible, make your own lunches and cut down on costs in the run up if you can, it'll soften the blow!
These days there are an awful lot of brides and grooms who don't actually expect presents. Very often you'll find that they've been living together for years and have everything for their home which they need. The wedding lists are there mostly for relatives rather than friends, these wedding lists are mainly designed to make it easier for family members to buy gifts to the couple's tastes. If you do want to buy a present, then build up a stock when you are shopping throughout the year, so you always have a couple of suitable wedding gifts on hand for when the big day arrives. It's also a great idea to go in with another couple or group of friends on a wedding present or an experience for the couple. Brides and grooms are aware that guests have many weddings to go to throughout the year and it can be very costly for their guests to buy outfits and wedding gifts for each wedding.
The best possible tip is to think whether you really actually need wedding night accommodation, because it's a great alternative to hire a car and driver between a group of you. That way it's cheaper than a hotel room and you always have a car waiting for you when you leave the reception in the wee small hours. Plus, no one has to drive, and you avoid a horribly public hangover at the hotel buffet the next day! With reception drinks at paying bar- if you're in a group, start a kitty, or share rounds with another couple rather than a huge group. Better still, if you're single - make a friend who might be willing to buy you drinks for the night! After all- that's what weddings are all about! |
While we're all guilty of putting that extra round of drinks on our credit card, or treating ourselves to another new dress, it came as a shock to us to find out that on average, we as wedding guests spend a total of £422 every time we attend a wedding, and possibly more depending on the location of the Hen/Stag do.
back to index
