How Much Will Your Wedding Cost in 2023
With wedding season due to kick off in the coming months and with plenty of couples newly engaged as we enter 2023, it seems like a good time to delve into how much a wedding might cost you in 2023. This will help you to benchmark how much you should expect to spend on your wedding, and help you apportion different areas of your budget. Using data pulled from Nimble Fins most recent report, we’ve broken down the the key areas of your wedding and their general estimations, based on a lower, middle and upper range, rather than an overall average which sometimes can be a little misleading.
So first things first, how much will a wedding cost you overall in 2023? Fact is, tying the knot doesn’t come cheap. They estimate that on the lower range couples are spending a total of £4,632, in the mid-range it’s £22,495 and in the upper range it’s £55,800. However research has found that after the Covid pandemic, couples are generally spending much less, with many aiming to keep their weddings below the £10k mark, rather than sitting between the £10k - £20k threshold.
Lower range: £500 / Middle: £7,600 / Upper range: £10,000
The wedding venue is as standard the largest portion of the budget alongside catering, which covers both food and drink spend. Research has found that for stately home and castle weddings you can expect to spend around £70 - £150 per head on average, whilst smaller, more intimate garden parties average out at around £35 per head.
Food - Lower range: £1,500 / Middle: £2,275 / Upper range: £8,000
Drink - Lower range: £400 / Middle: £1,050 / Upper range: £5,000
As mentioned above, catering is in the top two most expensive parts of a wedding budget due to the number of guests you are providing both food and drink for throughout the wedding. Luckily this is something you can really tailor to your needs and budgets and if it’s an area that isn’t as important to you as others, you can consider reducing the budget by doing buffet style food, having low-key evening food or choosing to have a paid bar for a portion or for all of the wedding. Alternatively, many couples feel this area of the wedding is a really important part and will choose to prioritise great food and free-flowing alcohol, so dial up or dial down this area as you wish.
Lower range: £350 / Middle: £1300 / Upper range: £3,000
As expected, the wedding dress is another expensive part of the budget but it doesn’t have to be. Many brides now choose to wear wedding dresses from high street brands such as Whistles and ASOS, or shop for the dress that they love for a fraction of the price on preloved websites such as Sherri Hill and Still White. However for many, the magic is in the experience of wedding dress shopping and finding and purchasing ‘the one’, so think about how important this experience is to you and if you’re willing to factor a little more of your budget to this.
Lower range: £500 / Middle: £2,000 / Upper range: £4,000
For most couples, it’s really important that they hire someone skilled to capture their wedding day, as these are photos and footage that will be cherished for years to come. For this reason, a lot of couples don’t scrimp on this area, but videography normally falls into the ‘nice to have’ category rather than a must have aspect of the day.
Entertainment
Lower range: £200 / Middle: £1,000 / Upper range: £2,000
When it comes to a wedding in the UK, a lot of couples feel that the key areas to prioritise are the venue, catering and entertainment. They’re often the most memorable parts of the wedding and ensure that everyone has a really great time. Luckily you can still get great entertainment whatever the budget, be it a DJ or a band, you’re guaranteed to get people dancing.
Lower range: £250 / Middle: £500 / Upper range: £2,000
Flowers are another area of the budget that you can scale up or down based on how much money you have available. If money is tight, a lot of couples will prioritise the key floral elements such as wedding bouquets and buttonholes and get inventive with something else for the tables and venue decor like personalised neon signs for weddings. However if you have more budget available, think about where your floral arrangements can really sing and make sure you get your money’s worth. If you fancy getting crafty, you could even do the table arrangements yourselves, and head to a flower market to stock up on stems. Consider a custom neon sign for your special day.
Lower range: £250 / Middle: £3,000 / Upper range: £10,000
An important factor to any wedding day is the engagement and wedding bands! We find most of the money tends to be spent on the engagement ring itself, and then a little less on the wedding bands themselves, with many couple opting to just have simple silver or gold bands. If you’re looking to save money on this area, we highly recommend either shopping vintage or considering lab grown diamonds. Featuring the exact same clarity and grown in the same way as mined diamonds (just in a lab and not underground!) Lab-grown diamonds mean you get so much more for your money, they’re more ethical and we really believe they are the future.
Lower range: £200 / Middle: £500 / Upper range: £2,000
Increasingly, the wedding cake is becoming less of a must have item on the wedding list and couples are getting creative, opting for brownie or doughnut towers to do something a little bit different and save money. Think about how important the cake is to you and structure your budget allocation to it accordingly.
Ceremony fees
Lower range: £57 / Middle: £200 / Upper range: £300
Ceremony fees can often fall into those sneaky costs that you weren’t quite expecting. On the more budget friendly end, you have the option of a registry office which is £57 (£46 for the ceremony, £11 for the marriage certificate), however you may want to spend a little bit more on decorating the space, so factor that in too. If you’re getting married at the venue, the venue hire will of course be included but there will be a similar cost to the registry office for the official registrar. If you choose to get married in a Church of England Church, weddings will cost you £512 in your home parish and £560 outside of your parish, but remember anything like ringing the bells or playing the organ will usually be an additional cost.
Wedding Favours
Consider purchasing custom coins to commemorate your wedding day. Perfect for small wedding favours.
