Are weddings OUT OF CONTROL?

You can’t put a price on love, but marriages these days can be eye-wateringly costly, as Christabel Smith discovers

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Not so long ago, a couple would celebrate their nuptials with a glass of sherry and a ham sandwich, and it would all be over by mid-afternoon. Now, festivities can last all day and half of the night, while hen and stag dos are often multi-night breaks.

Little wonder, then, that the average cost of a UK wedding has almost doubled over the past decade, according to Compare Wedding Insurance, from £11,441 in 2012, to £21,725 by 2023.

A wedding list is now longer than Princess Diana’s train, and the expense mounts up faster than confetti on church steps. Costs are even more eye-watering on top of the current cost-of-living crisis. A 2022 survey on wedding site Hitched revealed that 59% of UK couples went over budget with their weddings. ‘Guest experience’ was their top priority, but with many still paying off student loans and saving for a house, is it bonkers to carry the cost of friends and family drinking fizz and generally having a hoot?

Some parents cringe at the amount of money their children are prepared to spend on a wedding, while others simply put the increase down to changing times. Either way, one thing’s certain: behind the woman saying ‘I do’, delicately dabbing their eyes before they ruin their make-up will be the mother of the bride.

Here, we talk to two women whose daughters did it their way. 

THE HOMEMADE CELEBRATION Total cost: Under £9,000

Maxine Morgan, 56, helped her daughter Molly achieve the rustic wedding of her dreams.