money

Popping a bottle of champagne is the time-honoured way to toast an engagement, but new research has revealed that newly engaged couples are looking for something a little different to mark the milestone. 

A survey of 1,000 UK adults carried out by One4all, the Post Office gift card, found that more than anything, 1 in 2 British adults (54%) would prefer to receive cash or a gift card to use to help pay for their wedding, as an engagement gift.

The data revealed the gifts that newly engaged couples would like to receive once the big question has been popped, with cash and gift cards topping the list. 

70% of Couples Spend More Than They Planned In Their First Year of Marriage

18-24 Year Old’s Are Most Likely To Overspend

Poor Financial Planning Can Put Pressure On Relationships Down The Line

Weddings, they’re an expensive business – but the key is to spend your money wisely and be open to savvy cost-saving tricks. That is why our latest column from Natalie Lovett of Love to plan this time is her top money saving tips when planning your wedding.

Money saving tips from Natalie Lovett of Love to Plan

Lose the favours

Along with buying your first property, paying for a wedding can be one of the most expensive things you are likely to do in life. In fact, recent research shows that the average cost of a British wedding is now £26,989 (and rising). As a result, many newlyweds start their marriage in debt, putting a slight dampener on the new marital bliss. Pension and savings specialists Standard Life have provided some tips around how to combat this potentially stressful situation so you can enter married life on the best financial foot.

How to enter life on the best financial foot

Make a budget and stick to it

According to research carried out by wedding website Hitched, the average UK wedding costs £25,090. With 36% of couples paying out of their own pocket and a further 48% sharing the cost with their parents, it’s likely you’ll want to cut back your spending in certain areas. 

Luckily, if you know what you’re doing, you can save a lot of money on your transportation for the days. So, if you would like to lower the cost of getting to the wedding venue and reception on your big day, here are our tips for making your money go as far as possible.  

Ask a friend or family member

Everyone wants their wedding day to be memorable. This means a lot of time, effort and money often goes into the planning of saying “I do”. In fact, according to Money Saving Expert, the average UK nuptial costs around £20,500. Luckily, there are things you can do to keep the total down. A great way is by planning your own reception. Not only will this give you control over your budget, but you’ll also be able to personalise your celebration perfectly.

Introducing Escape Travel Money Prepaid MasterCard® currency card – a safe and convenient way to carry money abroad. 

The Escape Travel Card allows you to load up on holiday money before you head abroad, can be topped up on the move, and can be used just like a debit or credit card – but without the hefty charges. 

The Escape Travel Card is free to buy if loading more than £100, free to make purchases abroad and offers free ATM withdrawals over £100*. Offering competitive foreign exchange rates, Escape can be used anywhere in the world, wherever MasterCard is accepted and is a simple, secure and cost-effective way to manage your spending money while abroad. 

One in ten of us spend more than a year planning a wedding, whilst a fifth of us spend up to six months. Yet ironically more than a third of us spend less than 15 minutes searching for finance options to help out with the costs of a wedding.

The research from Swedish challenger Ikano Bank also found that more than 300,000 people who borrowed money for their wedding wasted more than £450 by not shopping around for the best deal.

PAUL HINDLEY, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE BEST WESTERN CRESTA COURT HOTEL:

One of the most difficult parts to a wedding can be monitoring the budget.  With the average budget often overstepping the £20,000 mark and a wealth of amazing wedding choices to make, it can be difficult to know where you can save money in your budget - whilst still getting the dream style you want for your big day. We work with bridal parties of all sizes and budgets, and have learnt a thing or two about saving them money where nobody will notice, whilst investing the money where it really counts.

Your wedding day is a glorious event and one that is generally shared with close family and friends. While it is only one day, the amount of planning, decision making and general stress that goes into that one day is nothing short of epic. It’s your big day; you want it to be beyond perfect and that is completely understandable. However with so many aspects to the wedding, it is easy to get carried away and end up spending vast amounts of money on inane details that simply no one but yourself will appreciate or notice.