On average Britons are attending two weddings in 2016.
The real cost of being a wedding guest: Average invitee splashes out £407.83 on gifts, a new outfit, beauty treatments, accommodation and miscellaneous costs such as drinks at the reception
Londoners are the biggest wedding guest spenders
As we approach the 2016 wedding season, brides and grooms all over the country are bursting with excitement for their big day, whilst their guests are filled with dread as they have to fork out on average £407.83 every time they watch a friend or relative say “I do”.
New research out today by Travelodge has revealed that nearly half (45%) of Britons are attending on average two weddings this year costing them £815.64 – which is the cost of a good holiday or lots of short breaks.
This expenditure includes a wedding gift (£47.33), fancy new outfit (£71.60), beauty treatments (£55.00), accommodation & transport (£164.00) and miscellaneous costs such as drinks at the reception (£70.00) totalling £407.83
Travelodge which operates 530 hotels surveyed 2,000 British adults to see how much they spend to be a wedding guest after experiencing a spike in wedding group room bookings. Key findings revealed that a quarter of Britons are declining wedding invitations this year because they cannot afford the cost of being a guest. For a third of adults, it’s a ‘No’ RSVP because they simply cannot afford the expensive hotel bill – where the wedding is taking place.
The survey also revealed that spend varied regionally with a difference of £363.18 between the area where people spend the most (London) and the least (Aberdeen).
The biggest spenders are London, Belfast, Manchester, Bristol and Cardiff who are willing to spend the most on beauty treatments ahead of a wedding and are the most generous when it comes to gift gifting.
The nation’s most extravagant spenders and the less so:
| Rank | Big Spenders | Spend | Scrimpers | Spend |
| 1 | London | £487.10 | Aberdeen | £123.92 |
| 2 | Belfast | £446.23 | Wolverhampton | £128.12 |
| 3 | Manchester | £441.37 | Preston | £129.87 |
| 4 | Bristol | £410.96 | Sheffield | £143.43 |
| 5 | Cardiff | £405.84 | Portsmouth | £148.04 |
| 6 | Birmingham | £388.19 | Edinburgh | £149.99 |
| 7 | Oxford | £349.67 | Cambridge | £163.45 |
| 8 | Glasgow | £335.41 | Chester | £165.98 |
| 9 | Newcastle | £332.68 | Liverpool | £199.02 |
| 10 | Leeds | £332.67 | Brighton | £201.78 |
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said:
“This year, to help the financial burden of attending a wedding, couples are booking large quantities of Travelodge rooms prior to sending their invitations out. Interestingly the initial call is made by the groom and then passed to the bride to sort out booking logistics for individual guests closer to the wedding date. In some cases, where wedding parties are travelling a long distance, couples are actually booking the whole hotel out for their wedding.”
“We are also seeing that more couples are turning their wedding into a weekend occasion providing guests with a mini-vacation.”
