bridebook.co.uk wedding report 2017

The Bridebook.co.uk Wedding Report 2017in association with TWIA

The Bridebook.co.uk Wedding Report 2017 2

Hello!

Never before has such an in-depth survey been carried out on our amazing UK wedding industry. We have been working tirelessly to bring you the most up-to-date and insightful facts about weddings, the planning process, and couples’ preferences for finding and working with suppliers. Bridebook.co.uk is very excited to share these results with you to help support and work together with the UK wedding industry!

Best Regards,

Hamish Shephard

Groom & Founder of Bridebook.co.uk

Introduction by Hamish Shephard, CEO of Bridebook.co.uk

2


The Bridebook.co.uk Wedding Report

Bridebook.co.uk have analysed data from nearly 4,000 recently married couples to gain insights into wedding planning, spending and behaviours across the UK. The Wedding Industry Awards (TWIA) is the UK’s leading industry awards and we bring you the most comprehensive study and report of UK weddings.

Recently married couples who voted in The 2017 Wedding Industry Awards were asked to complete a survey about their wedding. 3,928 respondents completed the 51-question survey.

Sample size = 3,928. The sample was comprised of 86% Brides, 12% Groom, and 2% One of Same Sex Married Couple.

Methodology


● Overview○ UK Wedding Profile○ Wedding Spending○ Finding Suppliers○ Wedding Planning Behaviours & Attitudes

● Reception Venues

● Other Suppliers○ Photography○ Wedding Dresses○ Wedding Cake○ Entertainment○ Other Wedding Suppliers

Contents


Overview


UK Wedding Profile

● Couples are engaged for an average of 20 months

● The average wedding size is 77 guests for the wedding breakfast, 83 guests for evening, and 78 guests for the ceremony

● The most popular wedding season is Summer (49%), followed by Spring (27%) and Autumn (15%)

● The most popular wedding months are August (18%), July (16%) and September (14%). The least popular months for weddings in January (1%), February (3%) and November (3%)

● The most popular day of the week for weddings is Saturday (54%), followed by Friday (17%), Sunday (11%) and Thursday (8%). 26% of weddings take place on a Saturday in Summer


London

North West England

North East England

West MidlandsWales

East Midlands

East of England

South East England

South West England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

10% Live, 4% Weddings



<1% Live, <1% Weddings


12% Live, 15% Weddings 20% Live,

21% Weddings



<1% Live, <1% Weddings

2% Weddings


Abroad

● The most popular regions in the UK for weddings are South East England (21%), South West England (15%) and North West England (15%)

● While 10% of couples live in London, only 4% get married there

UK Wedding Profile - Regional Distribution


UK Wedding Profile - Honeymoon

● The most popular honeymoon destinations are Europe (23%), UK (14%) and the USA (10%)

● The most popular length of honeymoon is 1-2 weeks (38%) followed by 2-3 weeks (23%) and 1 week (21%).


Average Supplier Costs

● Total Costs of Suppliers (excl. honeymoon) is: £26,989

● Represents an increase of £487 from £26,502 in previous year


The Savvy Couple’s Actual Wedding Spend

● As costs increase, couples are finding creative ways to reduce weddings costs○ The average couple hires professionals for only 13 of the 18 categories○ 38% couples report having their wedding cake homemade/from a friend○ 29% couples say they didn’t use printed stationery (eg. menu, invitations)○ 65% couples offer a paid bar (guest paid) versus to 21% open bar (couple paid)○ 71% couples hire lower cost DJs (£513) versus to 44% Live Bands (£1,411) ○ 5% brides have vintage/second-hand dresses○ 46% weddings are held on a day other than Saturday

● Couples estimate their actual wedding outlays (excl. honeymoon) to range between £10-15k (23%) £15-20k (21%) and £20-25k (14%), suggesting that they’re already finding ways to save

● Considering the varied usage of each supplier category, couples contribute an average wedding spend of £16,842 (excl. honeymoon)


Wedding Spends Across the UK

● The most expensive regions in the UK to get married are London (£25,450) and South East England (£17,333)*

● The least expensive regions to get married are Scotland (£13,683) and East Midlands (£13,461)

* Totals exclude honeymoon


● Weddings are still mostly paid for by the Bride’s Parents (23%) followed by the Groom (20%) and the Bride (17%). However, when Grooms contribute, their total spend (29% of costs) exceeds Bride’s Parents’ (27% of costs)

● 39% of couples spend over budget. Of those who overspend, most go over by 30% or less

● Couples who overspend are more likely to do so on Food & Drink (34% of couples), # of Guests (30% couples), Honeymoon (30% of couples) and Bride’s Dress (27% couples)

Setting the Budget

Budget Planning

No, we were on budget

There was no budget

We went OVER

budget

We went UNDER budget

Other (please specify)

Total

27% 28% 39% 4% 1% 100%


Finding Suppliers - Initial Contact

● Couples’ Most Preferred method of making enquiries to wedding suppliers is email (84%) followed by in-person (56%) and phone (35%). The Least Preferred methods are post/mail and SMS/Text

● Couple’s Most Preferred method of ongoing contact with suppliers is email (88%), followed by in-person (56%) and phone (43%)

● With respect to brochures, couples prefer physical brochures (61%) to digital (39%)


● Couples rank recommendations from friends and family (72%) followed by reviews (58%) as the most important resources when finding suppliers

● Couples read an average of 7.6 reviews before booking their suppliers

Finding Suppliers - Importance of Reviews & Recommendations


Wedding Planning Behaviours & Attitudes

● Couples are taking advantage of online resources to plan their weddings with the most utilised planning tools including Wedding Website (41%), Checklist (32%) and Supplier Directory (29%)

● Couples still need help as they report the most difficult aspect of wedding planning is managing the guest list (25%) followed by managing the budget (16%), knowing what to do next (13%), and communicating with partner and family (9%)


Wedding Planning Behaviours & Attitudes (cont’d)

● Couples are influenced by their family and friends both directly and indirectly throughout the entire wedding planning process

○ Couples report themselves (99%), their partner (81%), their mother (42%), their bridesmaids (31%), their sisters (17%) and their partner’s mother (16%) as heavily involved in their wedding planning

○ When planning their wedding, couples reported the most valuable sources of information to be Recommendations from Friends and Family (40%), wedding fairs (37%), personal experience at other people’s weddings (36%), recommendations from their wedding venue (35%), and wedding websites (not blogs) (32%)

● Wedding fairs are valuable resources as 63% of couples attended wedding fairs near where they live, 40% attended wedding fairs at their venue, and 22% attended national wedding fairs


Reception Venues


Reception Venues - Highlights

● The average amount spent on wedding venue hire = £5,819

● Couples are increasingly looking at venues as all-in-one destinations for everything○ 59% ceremonies took place at the Reception Venue (up from 53% in 2015), 29% at Place

of Worship (down from 33% in 2015) and 6% at Register Office / Town Hall

○ Couples save by booking all-in-one venues as average spend for venue & catering for one that include food & drink is £7,783 compared to separate venue hire and catering at £8,688

○ Accordingly, Hotels/Venues with In-house Catering (70%) are more popular than to Dry-Hire Venue (14%), Marquee on Private Land (8%) or Other (8%)

● Couples are most comfortable paying per head compared to a fixed price, as the most common venue pricing strategies booked is Per Head (incl. Food & Drink) (44%), compared to Package (incl. Food & Drink, and other suppliers) (28%) or Fixed Dry Hire cost (28%)


Reception Venues - Decision Making Process

● Country/Manor House (27%) is the most popular venue type, followed by Place of Worship (16%), Barn (16%), City hotel/Venue (10%), and Garden/Outdoor (5%)

● Couples make an average of 5.4 venue enquiries and typically go on 2.8 venue showrounds before booking their wedding venue

● Venues reply to 88% enquiries on average

● Couples most often mention the deciding factors when booking a venue are: ○ “stunning” views/grounds/building○ professional & friendly staff○ value for money○ flexibility to personalise wedding with suppliers/styling


Reception Venues - Seasonality by Venue Type

● All types of reception venues are most popular during Summer and Spring

● Castles are more likely to be popular in the colder Winter/Autumn months

Venue Type Autumn Spring Summer WinterAt home/ Marquee 13% 26% 55% 6%

Barn 17% 24% 51% 8%

Castle 26% 30% 33% 11%

City hotel/venue 18% 27% 47% 8%

Conference Centre 0% 13% 81% 6%

Country/Manor House 16% 28% 47% 9%

Cruise or Boat or Yacht 33% 17% 50% 0%

Garden/Outdoor 2% 27% 64% 7%

Golf Course 19% 28% 49% 3%

Museum or Attraction 11% 32% 43% 14%

Pub or Restaurant 18% 25% 51% 6%

Sporting Venue of Stadium 0% 63% 38% 0%

Stately Home 20% 29% 41% 10%

Town Hall/Registry Office 18% 22% 49% 10%

Warehouse or Factory 10% 32% 42% 16%

Grand Total 15% 27% 49% 9%


● Paid Bar is the most popular option for bar services

● Couples are least likely to opt for providing their own drinks with a corkage fee

Venue Catering - Bar Service Preferences

Bar Type % Weddings

Self-Provided Drinks, Corkage Fee 10%

Self-Provided Drinks, No Corkage 16%

Venue Drinks from Selection 58%

Open Bar (we paid) 21%

Paid Bar (guests paid) 65%


OtherSuppliers


Photography - Highlights

● The average amount spent on wedding photography = £1,211

● Significantly more couples book a full-time professional photographer (76%) versus a part-time photographer (17%) or friend at no cost (6%)

● Couples find value in extra services as 22% of couples hire photographers with a second shooter (2 people) and 4% booked photographers that provided photo booth services

● Digital photos were higher than print as 50% photography packages purchased include a USB stick of photos versus 20% packages that include a printed album

● Deciding factors to book a photographer include:○ Excellent portfolio online / style of photography○ Comfortable / friendly personality○ Value for money○ Personal recommendations and reviews


Wedding Dresses - Highlights

● The average amount spent on wedding dress = £1,329

● The majority of couples, or 83%, purchase their wedding dress from a specialist wedding dress designer (e.g. Jenny Packham), compared to 10% who purchase their dress from high street shops (e.g. John Lewis), 5% who design it themselves (eg. local seamstress), or 5% who acquire a dress that’s vintage/second-hand (e.g. Ebay)


Wedding Cake - Highlights

● The average amount spent on wedding cake = £318

● Most couples report having a multi-tiered cake (55%) compared to single-tiered (2%), while 14% report having another style of cake (eg. cupcakes, cheese etc.)

● About half of couples, or 52%, purchase their cake from a specialist cake maker, while 38% report it being homemade /from a friend, and 5% purchase it from a large retailer (e.g. M&S)


Entertainment

● Couples are more likely to hire a DJ (71%) at an average cost of £513 compared to a live band (44%) which is doubly as expensive at an average cost of £1411

● 5% of weddings include fireworks

Entertainment % Weddings

DJ 71%

Live Band 44%

Non-Music Entertainment (eg. magician) 14%

Fireworks 5%


Other Wedding Suppliers

● The majority of couples (71%) utilise printed stationery

● Almost half (43%) of couples have wedding insurance for their wedding

● A quarter of couples (26%) hire a wedding videographer

Other Suppliers % Weddings

Printed Stationery (eg. Menu, Invitations) 71%

Wedding Insurance 43%

Planner/Toastmaster/Celebrant 35%

Videographer 26%

Other 19%

Thank you!For additional information, contact:[email protected]


About Bridebook.co.uk

Bridebook.co.uk is the UK’s leading online wedding planning platform with over 40,000 couples currently planning their wedding on the website and newly release iOS app. Launched in 2016, Bridebook.co.uk's state-of-the-art wedding planning toolkit with personalised Checklist, Budgeter and Guestlist manager, enables couples to plan their entire wedding from any device, anytime, anywhere, all in one place...for free. With over 70,000 venues and suppliers in its directory, Bridebook.co.uk increases the digital presence of industry professionals and connects them directly with local couples. Bridebook has also partnered with leading brands such as Mary Berry, Bobbi Brown and Jimmy Choo to provide genuine expert advice and inspiration to its couples.

Bridebook.co.uk was founded by Hamish Shephard, an industry professional and recently married groom who used Bridebook.co.uk to plan his own May 2016 wedding. Hamish has his own Evening Standard column, Groom With a View where he shares his insight as one of the UK’s most prominent wedding experts.

Find us at:https://www.bridebook.co.uk and the iTunes App Store

http://www.standard.co.uk/topic/groom-with-a-view

https://www.bridebook.co.uk

https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id1200853011?mt=8

https://www.bridebook.co.uk


About The Wedding Industry Awards

The Wedding Industry Awards (TWIA) host the most prestigious wedding awards in the UK. The mission of the Wedding Industry Awards is to recognise and reward the very highest standards in the Wedding Industry and to help couples make a better educated decisions when looking for suppliers for their weddings.

Each year winning suppliers are awarded across 26 categories and 11 regions. Only last year’s clients can vote, and a combination of their score along with industry expert judging process decides the winners to ensure quality and level playing field. Since 2011, founder of The Wedding Industry Awards and Chairman of the Judging Panel, Damian Bailey and his wife Anna, have been organising and running the Wedding Industry Awards through their company 23 Events Ltd.

Voters of 2017 The Wedding Industry Awards were polled for this survey.

Find us at:https://www.the-wedding-industry-awards.co.uk

https://www.the-wedding-industry-awards.co.uk

https://www.the-wedding-industry-awards.co.uk

bridebook.co.uk wedding report 2017

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