All you need is love… and €24k

The average Irish couple now spends €24,427 on their wedding day.

A survey of more that 2,000 participants this month showed that the average total budget for a wedding including the honeymoon is €24,427. This marks a rise of 8% from the €22,531 average in 2016.

The costs of wedding celebrations are clearly on the increase as the average spend on guests was notably higher. Couples spend around €66 per meal at the receptions and 24.5% of couples spend over €80.

On average, couples invite 159 guests to their Big Day and 26% opt for a bigger celebration with over 200 guests.

Also on the rise are the average bills for wedding bands (up 26%), photographers (8%) and venues (9%).

Over-spend

The survey by Irish wedding website weddingsonline revealed that couples are regularly going over-budget and supplementing excess expenses by taking out loans. Half of the couples surveyed went over budget with 15% spending over €5,000 more than they had planned. 60% of couples use their savings to fund their wedding, 21% get help from their parents and 17% take out a loan to help cover costs.

Honeymoon

The most popular honeymoon destinations were revealed to be The United States, the Maldives and Italy. That romantic trip is not cheap either, with couples splashing out an average of €5,028 for the dream holiday. 

Check out the full breakdown of average wedding spends in 2016:

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