We’ve teamed up with The National Wedding Show to find out about the average weddings in 2019. Weddings Today is the UK’s biggest piece of insight into contemporary weddings in the UK today, with 6,600 participants. You can read our breakdown of same sex weddings in 2019 here.
Read more: The key questions to ask your wedding venue
Average Weddings in 2019
The Average Age of Brides and Grooms in 2019
The Weddings Today survey revealed that the average age of brides and grooms in the UK is 31 for brides and 33 for grooms.
Average Time Spent Wedding Planning
Couples are getting engaged after four to seven years together and on average, they’re spending between seven and 12 months planning their wedding.
What Do Today’s Brides and Grooms Look Like?
The average couple in the UK is in their early 30s and they don’t tend to have children together before marriage (68% of couples are child-free) – however, 13% of brides and grooms have children together before marriage and a further 13% had at least one child from a previous relationship.
Their joint yearly income averages out between £25,000 – £49,999 (43%), but 44% of couples earn upwards of £50,000 a year together combined. The average wedding budget is £14,984.88. Read our guide to planning your wedding on a £15,000 budget here.
Meeting and Getting Engaged
Today’s couples are still meeting the old-fashioned way! 18% of brides and grooms today met whilst at work, and 17% met whilst out socialising at a pub or a club. Another 17% met whilst in education, and 2% of today’s couples are tying the knot with a holiday romance.
15% of couples met the one through a dating website – of all those who met that way, Tinder has the highest success rate when it comes to creating marriage-worthy matches, with 7% of swipers finding Mr or Ms Right as they swipe right. Plenty of Fish resulted in a catch for 5% of couples, whilst 2% met their match on Match.com.
A chance meeting in a public place – such as a bus stop or at the gym – has resulted in 3% of marriages, whilst 5% of couples are saying ‘I do’ with a childhood friend.
When it comes to the worst places to find lasting love, it pays to avoid festivals – less than 1% of married couples meet at a music festival.
Holidays are the most popular occasion to get engaged on – 40% of those surveyed were proposed to whilst they were away. Birthdays and Christmas are also proposal hot spots, with 10% of engagements taking place on each occasion.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t lead the way when it comes to tying the knot – just 1% of couples reported on receiving a Valentine’s Day proposal, and only 2% went down on one knee on New Year’s Eve. Anniversaries are a popular time to get engaged, with 7% of couples starting their wedding planning experience on their anniversary.
Planning to propose? Make sure you read our list of awesome wedding proposal ideas.
Wedding Dress Shopping
Shopping for your wedding dress is one of the most exciting parts of wedding planning! On average, brides to be visit three bridal boutiques and try on 12 dresses before finding the one.
The average spend on a wedding dress is £1,098.74.
79% of brides would be willing to travel up to 50 miles to go to the bridal boutique of their dreams, whilst 13% would go up to 100 miles. 7% of those surveyed said they would travel over 200 miles to track down the right dress for them.
Still looking for your wedding dress? Make sure you visit Wedding Style Collective and find bridal boutiques near you.
Pre-Wedding Grooming
It’s not just the dress that needs to be white on the wedding day – 71% of brides and grooms opt for teeth whitening in the run up to their wedding, and 11% have braces to straighten out their smile before they say ‘I do’.
11% of those surveyed said they’d had botox before their big day and 33% have gone for HD brows or microblading.
Nearly three quarters of couples (74%) lost weight for their wedding, and 52% invested in a special perfume or aftershave for the occasion. Browse our favourite bridal perfumes here.
If you’re planning on tanning, make sure you read our guide to fake tan for your wedding.
Weddings and Social Media
Social media plays a big part in the run up to the wedding for the couple – but more and more guests are finding themselves banned from using it on the day.
32% of couples updated their Facebook status to ‘Engaged’ within 24 hours of their proposal, and 28% update their status to ‘Married’ within 24 hours of saying their vows.
Whilst over a quarter of couples are happy to watch the likes roll in on their wedding day, they’re not okay with their guests doing the same. 32% of brides and grooms made sure social media was banned from their wedding ceremony, and a quarter of couples banned it from their whole wedding.
Trends and Traditions
Country houses are the most popular style of wedding venue, with 22% of couples opting to host their big day at one of them. 16% of brides and grooms chose a barn as their wedding setting, and 18% opted for a hotel wedding venue.
Couples are allocating £4,999.28 on their wedding venue.
An incredible 92% of couples chose to stick to tradition and spend the night before their wedding apart, and 52% had permission from the parents before proposing. Almost three quarters of brides (74%) stuck to the ‘something old, something new…’ tradition and 50% chose to toss the bouquet.
Read up on some of the wedding traditions you don’t know about here.
40% of couples chose to write their own wedding vows, with 8% of those asking for help from either a professional or from friends and family. Most brides are still taking their husbands’ names upon marriage, with 78% saying they will change their last name.
Now you’re all clued up, if you feel ready to start planning make sure you read our 11-step guide to wedding planning!
