September 9 2014

Survey: What Irish couples spend on their weddings? Aug ’14

Have you seen a wedding survey recently? Anyone who has gotten married will, more than likely, have struggled with their wedding budget. The majority of Irish couples are getting married for the first time so it’s pretty easy to forget something on the list.

It was therefore very interesting to see the results from the 4th annual wedding survey conducted by popular wedding forum Mrs2Be.ie. Even after you’ve gotten married it’s intriguing to compare costs, however, it’s really important to be aware of average prices when planning your up-coming wedding. Information is King!

Image courtesy of Pinterest and project wedding.com. Venue average spend is €9,825

Since Mrs2Be.ie did the survey, with 2,276 brides and grooms, we will take a step back and simply take a look at their 2014 results.

Key findings arising from Irish Wedding Survey 2014

Couples have started to spend a little bit more on their weddings. In 2013, the overall average increase in spend is 2.6% over what couples spent on getting married in 2012.
While spend has shown an increase for the venue, band, the dress, stationery, transport and the honeymoon, our survey has shown a slight decline in other areas (e.g. the photographer, videographer and wedding DJ).
Engagements appear to be getting shorter. In last year’s survey, the majority of couples were to be engaged for two years or longer. This year, the majority fall into the 13 to 18 months category.
Almost 1 in 4 couples now live together for more than 5 years before getting married.
Almost 1 in every 4 couples DO NOT get married in a church.
December is by far the most popular month to get engaged. February follows in second position.
No major change in age of the couples, late twenties for the bride and early thirties for the groom is the norm.
The most preferred number of bridesmaids is 3.
Approximate spend per head on the wedding meal falls into the €51 to €60 category.
Typical number of guests seated for the wedding meal is 101 to 150.
About 1 in 6 couples are thinking about taking out wedding insurance.
Good news for nervous public speakers, having the wedding speeches before the meal is becoming increasingly popular. The preference for having speeches after the meal still takes the lead, but only just. We wouldn’t be surprised to see speeches beforehand taking the lead in next year’s survey.