The financial impact on the average cost of a wedding in 2022

The annual National Wedding Survey released by Hitched.co.uk reveals that after a difficult period during the pandemic years, weddings were well and truly back with a bang in 2022. The report shines a light on the latest trends, insights and cost of weddings across the UK, thanks to a survey of more than 2,400 British newlyweds.
Wedding Budgets and the Economy
The average cost of a wedding* in 2022 increased to £18,400, up by £1,100 compared to the year before when couples spent an average of £17,300 on their big day.
Newlyweds didn’t set out to spend this much though, with almost half of those surveyed (47%) revealing that they had gone over their original budget*. While the unstable economy dominated headlines, less than a third** of couples said that the cost of living crisis actually impacted their wedding finances..
However, the knock on effect of inflation saw more than half of couples (56%) increase their estimated wedding budgets** at least once, while 49% opted for more DIY elements than originally planned to counteract the rising cost of living. The survey* also revealed that friends and family had a huge part to play in the financing of weddings last year, with 63% of couples using financial gifts from friends and family to pay for their wedding.
Couples paid for their weddings in a number of ways, but the majority used savings accounts (59%) or current accounts (42%) to cover costs, with 40% opting to pay their vendors in cash payments along the way. Few couples opted to go into debt to pay for their weddings last year, with less than a fifth (18%) using existing credit cards to pay for supplier services, while only 11% took out loans or opened up new credit cards (9%) to cover costs.
Additional Financial Goals
The research also revealed what other financial goals couples had while they were planning and paying for their weddings. The majority of respondents (89%) said there was at least one other financial goal in mind, with more than half (58%) saving for a big trip or honeymoon alongside paying for the wedding itself.
A third of newlyweds (32%) cited saving for a house as their biggest financial priority after the wedding, demonstrating that many couples are indeed prioritising weddings over buying houses, with 1-in-10 revealing that they didn’t yet live together before marriage.
Despite this, a quarter of respondents (27%) noted that they were still saving towards family planning costs, as data revealed that 31% of last year’s newlyweds already had at least one child under the age of 18 at the time of the wedding.
Paying off debt was another key point for many, with 29% saying this was one of their biggest priorities, alongside a fifth (22%) who were simultaneously paying into an ‘emergency fund’, and 18% who were also planning to pay off student loans.
The Average Cost of a Wedding

Couples spent the majority of their wedding budgets* on their dream venue, with the average cost of a venue rising to £8,400 last year, versus £7,600 in 2021. Catering for guests was the second biggest expense for couples, costing £5,670 on average to supply food and drink to a slightly bigger guest list than in 2021. Last year, couples invited around 81 guests to witness their nuptials, a 10% increase on the year before as the previously-enforced Covid-19 restrictions and limitations were finally left behind.

Photography and videography were some of the remaining large expenses, with couples spending around £1,350 on photography and £1,150 on videography for their big days. This increase in spend from 2021 suggests that capturing memories continues to be an important factor for newlyweds.