Belfast most expensive place to attend wedding, foreign weddings annoy guests most!

 

Wedding guests are now spending an average of £218 on attending friends and family’s weddings, a new study has revealed. 

The survey, conducted by high street jewellers, Goldsmiths, has revealed the cost of attending a wedding 2018, as well as the things that guests find the most annoying about attending their loved ones’ big days.

Somewhat surprisingly the study found that Belfast is the most expensive place in the UK to attend a wedding, with the average guest spending £278 on essentials such as gifts, accommodation, drinks and a new outfit for the day. London is in a relatively lowly 6th place with an average cost of £230 per person.

The most expensive cities to be a wedding guest, based on cost per person to attend the day, are:

  1. Belfast – £278
  2. Liverpool – £270
  3. Norwich – £244
  4. Glasgow – £240
  5. Manchester – £233
  6. London – £230
  7. Leeds – £224
  8. Birmingham – £224
  9. Cardiff – £215
  10. Newcastle – £209

It’s perhaps no surprise that when it comes to the things guests find the most annoying about attending weddings, 17% said that being asked for money as a wedding gift is their biggest bug bear.

However, the biggest annoyance of wedding guests is being invited to a hen/stag do or wedding abroad, with nearly two fifths of those surveyed (39%) rating this money-draining request as one of the worst things about being invited to a wedding.

The other top annoyances for wedding guests include:

  1. Being invited to a hen/stag do and wedding abroad (39%)
  2. Screaming children (36%)
  3. Drunken relatives (34%)
  4. Inconvenient location (29%)
  5. Long and cringeworthy speeches (29%)
  6. Long ceremony (26%)
  7. Long waits for food (25%)
  8. Not receiving a plus one when invited (22%)
  9. Being asked for money for the wedding gift (17%)
  10. When a wedding falls on a weekday (13%)

Commenting on the results of the research, Craig Bolton, Executive Director at Goldsmiths, says:

‘It’s fascinating to get an insight into the UK’s thoughts around what is right and wrong when it comes to wedding celebrations – especially when it’s so important for things to run smoothly on the big day.” 

(Study conducted by Censuswide with 1,144 and 1,820 respondents who have been to a wedding, between 23.02.2018 and 27.02.2018)

 

 

Chris Price