The results are in from UKbride's Summer Wedding Survey – revealing that 2010 will be a great year for weddings... and particularly for the 50,462 UKbride members getting married this season alone!

A Numbers Game

Over 250,000 weddings take place in the UK this year, with an increase in church weddings anticipated two years after the Church of England relaxed rules on marrying only in one’s own parish.

Currently, over 36% of UKbride’s members are planning to marry in church. But following 2008’s relaxation of restrictions on where brides can marry, Church of England vicars in two of the ‘pilot’ parishes for the relaxed restrictions report increased interest in church weddings. This is expected to be backed up by 2009’s attendance figures when they are released this summer.

Across the UK, the fewest numbers of Church weddings were held in Wales and the South West whilst those in East Anglia were more inclined towards religious ceremonies.

Of the 9,500 UKbride members surveyed nationally, 36% said they would marry in a church, 15% were to marry in a local hotel, 12% will marry in a country house, 13% in a register office and 7% were to marry abroad. 5% were to marry in a castle, whilst 12% of brides surveyed remained unsure.

The Price is Right

Over 58% of UKbride members are planning to spend up to £10,000 on their wedding. A further 20% will spend between £10,000 and £20,000… less than 1% are planning to spend more than £20,000… the remaining brides had yet to set their budgets.

Our survey also reflects the fact that of the total cost of a wedding, the venue and wedding breakfast is the biggest expense. Just over half of the brides we surveyed are spending less than £3,000 on their reception; 25% of all brides will spend less than £1,000 on their venue.

In fact, many brides plan to spend as much on their venue and wedding breakfast as on their wedding dress and bridal accessories.

Over 43.8% of brides will spend between £500 and £1,000 on their dress, with just 13% spending more than £1,000 and 35.5% spending less than £500.

Honeymoons

Despite trying to cut back on their reception spend, however, our survey shows that brides are happy to combine their wedding with a dream holiday.

Whilst over 12% of brides are choosing to forgo a post-wedding holiday, 62% of those who will enjoy a honeymoon after their wedding will travel out of Europe, 18% will remain within Europe and 8% will remain within the UK.

Nearly 40% of honeymooning brides will spend between £1,000 and £2,500 on their trip, whilst 30% will pay £2,500-£5,000 and just 3% will blow the budget with a £5,000+ trip!

Something for the Weekend

Whilst 73% of brides prefer to marry on Saturday, over 20% of brides are taking advantage of hotel venues’ concessionary packages for week-day weddings. 7% of brides will marry on a Sunday.

Age Before Beauty

The average age of a bride in the UK is 30-34. Anecdotal evidence from the Church of England indicates that couples are marrying much older, deferring their weddings until after they set up home and have children. Over a 15 year period, the average age of a bride has risen from 1995's figure of 29 years old.

By Invitation Only

The average number of guests at a wedding is between 50 and 100. More than half of brides limit their guest list to 100 attendees, whilst 28% ask up to 150 to attend.

Meanwhile, just 4% of weddings are attended by less than 25 people, and lavish weddings with more than 200 guests are even rarer – accounting for just 3% of UK weddings.

With 2009 bucking the recession trend, we anticipate that 2010 weddings will see couples spending just as much money… after all, many brides (46%) organise the final elements of their wedding between three and six months in advance of the day.

Questions answered by at least 3,000 UKbride.co.uk respondents. Additional Sources: Sky News, Telegraph, Church of England.