My Big Fat Austerity Wedding

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– One in five Brits takes a hipflask to a wedding –

Tuesday 14th June 2011: A wedding used to be the one place that Brits could expect a drink on the house, but new research out today shows that newlyweds have begun their own austerity drive with just half (51 per cent) of weddings today supplying champagne to toast the happy couple(1).

The poll of over 1,000 wedding guests from the past year, commissioned by Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance, revealed that half of wedding functions (50 per cent) supply no drinks at all on the table and just a quarter (27 per cent) have open bars.

As a result, 23 per cent of Brits confessed to bringing their own alcohol to a wedding, while a crafty one in five (18 per cent) opted for a hip flask to sneak it in.  A quarter (25 per cent) even admitted that they drank prior to arriving at a wedding to keep their costs down.

The research shows that it is not just alcohol that has been cut - a third (33 per cent) of weddings did not supply a three course meal, while 39 per cent did not supply any finger food.  In addition, just a fifth (19 per cent) supplied confetti and 81 per cent offered no transport from the wedding venue to the reception.

Just attending a wedding now sets the average guest back £504.01 each, while attending a hen or stag do will set them back a further £63.72.  Of those surveyed, 29 per cent of Brits have even had to turn down a wedding invitation due to the cost of attending and a further 35 per cent have ducked out of a hen or stag do for the same reason. 

Finding the right outfit was the most expensive part of attending a wedding at an average cost of £91.43 per guest.  Consequently, more than two thirds (68 per cent) said that they have stopped buying new outfits for every wedding.

Thrifty Brits are also finding ways to save money on a gift as one in five (22 per cent) donated their time or skills instead of buying a traditional wedding present and 16 per cent made the gift themselves.  Almost a fifth (18 per cent) confessed to spending less than £10 on a present for the newlyweds.

The research revealed that Brits believe in spending an average of £70.12 on a wedding gift or £100.93 if the bride or groom is a close friend while more than a third (38 per cent) said they would be embarrassed to spend less than £30.  Despite this, the average wedding guest actually spends £66.41 on a gift while a quarter (26 per cent) said they resented spending the amount that they do on presents for the bride and groom.  15 per cent even went into debt to pay for it.

Jacky Brown at Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance said: “A wedding invite can be a costly affair and really test the strength of relationships during these difficult economic times.  Although we may be saving costs as much as possible, Brits are still generous when it comes to gift giving so newlyweds should ensure that they have adequate home insurance to avoid a potentially unpleasant experience.” 

The study did have some good news for penny-pinching newlyweds as 28 per cent of the wedding guests polled said that they have been turned off flash or expensive weddings by the TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

Scots were the most likely to bring hip flasks to a wedding at almost a third 30 per cent, while Londoners fork out the most on attending weddings at £612.40.  Brits are least likely to find an open bar at a wedding in Yorkshire where just 16 per cent have them.


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Notes to Editors:
(1) Sheilas’ Wheels used the independent online research company Fly Research who surveyed 1,698 wedding guests from across the UK, aged 18 and over, between 27 and 30 May 2011.