American Express has just published research into the current cost of attending a wedding in 2019, and have revealed that the average guest spends £391. This sum is up by almost a third in comparison with 2018.
Across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the data suggests that wedding guests will collectively spend £5.5bn on attending weddings in 2019.
The lion’s share of the budget is swallowed up by hotel costs, closely followed by clothing and wedding presents, which cost £72, £68 and £66 respectively.
The figures include the price of taking part in a hen or stag do, with the average spend coming in at £58. This was also a considerable increase on 2018’s figure of £16.
Other costs cited by American Express include travel, plus hairdressing and beauty treatments, as well as drinks.
While the cost may have increased, in real terms wedding guests should spend less in 2019 than in the previous year. This is because people are expected to attend just one wedding each in 2019, compared to three per head in 2018.
Travel costs guests an average of £57 each, and drinks totalled £45 per head. The lowest spend was on hair and beauty, which came in at £25. Perhaps with the spiralling costs, some sisters are choosing to do that for themselves.
With the number of wedding invites decreasing, maybe the price rise can be explained by guests setting aside a bigger budget for each of the fewer weddings they do go to.