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New Press Release
PRESS RELEASE
40% of brides don’t set a wedding budget!
A new survey by the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners and Instant Forever Polaroid Guest Books has reported that 40% of brides don’t set a budget before beginning to plan their weddings. Unsurprisingly, 50% of those that did, exceeded it.
“It’s shocking that for one of the most expensive events in a couple’s life, a large proportion do not set a budget before they start planning their wedding,” says Britt Armstrong Gash of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners. “The last thing a couple needs during the planning of a wedding, an already stressful process, is to be worrying about how they are going to pay for it all.”
The survey was aimed at brides after their wedding had taken place and asked questions about their weddings once they’d had a chance to reflect on the process of planning their weddings and the wedding days themselves. The results were quite surprising.
Photography seems to have been a big regret with 37% of couples rating it as critical after the event, an increase from 25% beforehand.
“It seems that couples don’t appreciate that the photographs are one of the very few tangible reminders after the wedding. It is so important that after such a momentous occasion, you have images that truly reflect such a special day,” says Helen Rankin of Instant Forever, the Polaroid guest book company. “What was also interesting is that a staggering 71% of couples only saw their guests for a maximum of a few minutes each and 8% didn’t get to speak to them all. A photographic guest book with photos of guests and comments by them would help to alleviate these feelings.”
It appears that the south-east is a popular place to escape from with 50% of those getting married abroad coming from here. The reasons are not clear but one wonders if it might be the thought of the guest list and invite process. Out of eleven elements, this was the least favourite part of planning for 31% of respondents by a 19% margin.
“This is something that wedding planners regularly manage on behalf of their clients, a service very much appreciated by clients. Thankfully, 75% of brides who hired a wedding planner rated them as great or fantastic. As the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners aims to promote professionalism within the industry and instil best practice standards, we are working towards making that number 100%”, comments Bernadette Chapman, another director of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners.
STATISTICS
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Brides from south-east England were most likely to go abroad, with 50% of marriages abroad coming from this area. Londoners were most likely to get married elsewhere, with 16% of Brides living in the capital but only 6% choosing to get married there. Brides living in the Midlands & NE England were most likely to get married in their areas.
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3.And after all this planning, how did brides actually feel their big day went? Not surprisingly, 34% reported being ‘quite’ or ‘extremely’ anxious on the day. However, of the population who used wedding planners, 47% reported feeling ‘not at all’ anxious.
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51% had between 5 and 20+ suppliers to manage in the run up and on the day. 65% of ex-brides noted that they had 2-3 contacts with each supplier during the course of the planning. With an average of 10 suppliers, this could lead to 30 points of contact during the planning. As 41% of brides had less than a year to plan, this would be very time consuming, confirmed by 20% of respondents who used this one phrase to describe their planning.
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TOP TIPS FROM RECENT BRIDES
“Make sure that you have a plate of food taken up to your room from your buffet so that you both have something to eat while opening your cards and presents.”
“Don’t underestimate how appreciative guests will be of little touches and gestures eg our wedding was on a hot day and we put baskets of toiletries including deodorant and refreshing wipes in the toilets. So many people have commented on this.”
“This is more a tip for any host than for a wedding, but it’s so important to think your way through the event from different guests’ point of views – catering for the different demands of various age groups, and backgrounds etc. What will people want at any given moment to make them happy, comfortable, fed, watered, entertained, spoilt, indulged . . . If the whole event is conceived with love and happiness in the attention to detail – that’s the real secret to an amazing day.”
“Before you walk up the aisle, take a minute to yourself. The rest of the day flies past and at least you’ll have that one image in your head.”
“Spend lots of time with your new husband and look around at all the guests enjoying themselves. It makes you feel so special that they’re all there because of you.”
“The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your guests will be. Easier said than done, but if you are stressed, then no-one else will be able to enjoy it. Take a deep breath, put a big smile on your face and everyone will remember how happy and relaxed you were (even if inside you were shaking!).”
CONTACT DETAILS
For interviews, images, case studies or further information, please contact:
The UK Alliance of Wedding Planners
7 Churchfield Road
Coggeshall
Essex CO6 1QE
Bernadette Chapman
Tel: 01376 561 544
Kelly Chandler and Britt Armstrong Gash
Tel: 020 8715 3316
Email: info@ukawp.com
Instant Forever
11 Kingsmead
Seaford
East Sussex
BN25 2EP
Helen Rankin
Tel: 0845 094 1311
Email:helen@instantforever.com
This survey was based on 318 respondents.
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