* INSTAGRAM IS DRIVING THE NATION’S WEDDING COST TO EXCESS: 42% said they felt under pressure to have an Insta wedding, 30% of couples confess to spending more to make it happen

* DECLINE OF BRITISH WEDDING TRADITIONS: 62% of couples opt not to have any page boys and 52% opt not to have any flower girls at their wedding

* RISE IN AMERICAN TRADITIONS: Couples increase spend on extravagant pre-wedding celebrations – with spend on engagement parties, hen and stag dos higher than ever before.

* SWIPE LEFT OR RIGHT ON DATING APPS AND WEBSITES: 68% met their partner in real life rather than through a dating app and 25% met via a dating app or website

* BREXIT BRITAIN ON A BUDGET: 26% of couples worried about the impact of Brexit on their wedding costs and a third of couples thought Brexit had made their wedding more expensive

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Hitched, the UK’s largest wedding website, today released the results of The National Wedding Survey 2019. The 14th annual wedding industry report, the most comprehensive of its kind, surveyed over 2,800 couples to reveal their spending habits and biggest wedding trends in the UK.

In 2019, the average wedding cost in the UK is £31,974, which has risen 54%, from £20,799 in 2014. 42% said they felt under pressure to have a Pinterest- or Instagram-worthy wedding and 30% spent more than their budget to make it happen. The single biggest wedding expenditure remains the venue hire.

The Top 5 Wedding Costs:
1.            Venue hire – £5,406
2.            Honeymoon – £4,645
3.            Food – £3,887
4.            Engagement ring – £2,419
5.            Drinks – £1,587

Britons are feeling the squeeze in the run up to Brexit, with 26% of couples worried about the impact of the vote to leave the EU on their wedding costs. 1 in 3 couples reckoned Brexit had made their wedding more expensive. 28% of couples surveyed were worried about their honeymoon travel plans and 30% of couples said Brexit put them off organising a wedding abroad.

The report also reveals that time-honoured British wedding traditions are seeing a decline:
•             62% of couples opting not to have pageboys and 52% opting not to have flower girls at their wedding.
•             Less than half (43%) of brides toss their bouquet;
•             Only 15% follow the silver sixpence tradition; and just 28% of couples choose to carry their partner over the threshold.
•             None of the couples planned to have a chimney sweep at their wedding – a 200-year-old tradition said to bring newlyweds good luck after a chimney sweep saved King George II’s life

Meanwhile, American traditions are gaining popularity as couples increase their wedding spend on engagement parties, hen and stag dos. The average cost of an engagement party is £875 – up 28.8% from last year –  and their stag or hen do can now set them back over £1000 – a rise of 36.8% in the past four years.

Couples appear to be swiping left on dating websites and apps as meeting in real life is still topping the list for where couples are finding love. 68% met their partner in real life rather than through a dating app, with meeting at work (18%) being the most popular place to find love followed by through friends and family (17%) – showing we still prefer the personal recommendations of our loved ones and our own gut instinct over an app’s algorithm. Only 25% of couples met via dating apps and websites, with Tinder (8%) being the most popular dating app.

Wedding gifting continues to change, with cash and honeymoon vouchers becoming the most requested types of gift. The average amount for cash gifts couples deemed appropriate was £54, however, most were happy for guests to spend less. 50% of respondents said £25-£50 was acceptable. Only 19% had a ‘gift list’. Compiling your own list has increased in popularity year on year, with half those couples choosing to do so in 2019. Department stores and a honeymoon fund were the next most common options.

More couples are choosing to delay their honeymoon in order to save up. 45% of all couples said they were taking their trip later in the year. However, 19% were jetting off within two days of the wedding. The most popular destination for a honeymoon is the Maldives followed by the Italy and the USA.

The Top 10 Honeymoon Destinations
Maldives                                              6. Caribbean
Italy                                                       7. Mauritius
USA                                                       8. Thailand
Bali                                                         9. Hawaii
Mexico                                                 10. Greece

New findings released today by Hitched uncovers the truth about wedding culture in Britain in one of the biggest annual surveys of its kind. Based on a wealth of data points, the results reveal the UK’s wedding trends based on a sample of 2,886 representative adults across the UK. More data is available here and on hitched.co.uk and youandyourwedding.co.uk.

Sarah Allard, editor, Hitched, says: “With Instagram becoming an increasing part of our day to day lives, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing our wedding planning couples – many of them millennials who have grown up with social media – looking to the platform to help inspire their day. The wedding is no longer just about one event and there’s a growing desire to prolong the wedding celebrations; couple this with Instagram and Pinterest bringing access to trends from across the pond and it’s clear to see why couples are choosing to spend more on engagement parties, hen and stag-dos than ever before despite worries around the impact of Brexit. At Hitched we’re keen to show couples that your dream wedding can be achieved on any budget, and that while Instagram and Pinterest are great ways to gain inspiration, no-one should feel pressured by what makes ‘the perfect day’ – every wedding is beautiful, unique and special.”