Member Article

Couples to spend £6.8 billion on weddings this year, Ferratum finds

New research from short-term lender Ferratum has found that couples in England and Wales will spend an incredible £6.8bn on weddings in 2017 alone. With the start of September marking the most popular wedding weekend of the year, Ferratum predicts that weddings from July-September alone will cost couples £3.3bn in total.

Many couples cannot afford these high budgets, however. Ferratum’s research also reveals that one in four couples are borrowing to fund their big day, with an incredible £958m due to be borrowed this year in order to meet their dream wedding costs.

High profile ceremonies such as the Royal Wedding and more recently, Pippa Middleton’s, mean that budgets for everyday couples across the UK are being increased to meet the high standards of today’s modern wedding. Whilst many couples try to budget as much as possible, a growing number of newlyweds are finding themselves in debt than ever before as wedding supplier costs continue to rise to meet increased consumer demand.

Tony Gundersen, UK Country Manager for Ferratum said: “The increasing pressure to have a picture-perfect big day is leading to couples across the country having a budget which would have been unthinkable even a decade ago.

“As fewer couples are receiving financial help from their families, more and more couples are looking to loan providers to fund part or all of their wedding, with almost £1 billion due to be borrowed this year alone.

In order to plan their perfect wedding, couples should consider budgeting well in advance of the big day to assess whether they will be able to access the funds to support their plans.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ferratum .