With the average cost of the big day almost topping £18,000 – and the sky being the limit for a celebrity-style bash – it is not surprising that many couples find themselves both saving and borrowing to fund the event.
A new survey by the AA asked savers how long they put money aside for a family wedding and found stark regional differences:
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One in three (30 per cent) in the affluent South-east is likely to save for just six months, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 (8 per cent) in Scotland.
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Engaged Scots couples or their parents typically save for a year for a wedding (42 per cent), a further quarter saving for up to five years.
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In Wales and the South-west, one in five will save for over five years.
The survey also found that more than half (53 per cent) of those saving for a wedding, do so to reduce the amount they have to borrow to pay for the great day.
The average length of engagement is just 23 months but young people who save for their wedding appear to do so for less than half that time. 70 per cent of 18 to 24 year-olds say they save for just six months and the remainder put money aside for up to a year – none in this age group saved for longer.
But parents would seem to start saving as soon as they learn of their youngsters’ plans, nearly three quarters (73 per cent) saving for up to two years.
“What is remarkable is that 85 per cent 3 of people go to their high street provider for a savings account rather than shopping around for the best interest rate,” says Lloyd East, general manager of AA Financial Services. “Some high street accounts pay less than 1 per cent interest yet simply to stand still against the Retail Prices Index, they should be getting 2.88 per cent, taking tax into account.
“Our research shows that over a third of savers have more than one savings account. And over half (56 per cent) save for a wedding in the family, the fourth most likely reason for saving after holiday, home improvements and car purchase.”
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