Weddings more expensive than ever

It is becoming apparent that the happiest day of your life can also be the most expensive, with wedding costs seeming to rise year on year. Different websites give various quotations on the average cost of a wedding, but they seem to hit £11,000 - £20,000, with London weddings generally being 15% more expensive due to the higher venue costs.

Serious planning is absolutely essential for your wedding – if you overrun by just 10%, you could be in need to find over £1,000 to cover what at first seemed like a few extra indulgences. One thing is obvious – the bigger the wedding, the more it will cost, and spiraling expenses in recent years have been put down to couples being all the more extravagant. With the average price of each guest at £57, the number of guests that come to the wedding creates the clearest inflation in costs. The reception is most often the most expensive part, usually ranging from anything between £2,000 and £5,000; particularly costly are bars that are free to guests, and anything running late into the evening.

The honeymoon is often another big expense, with prices averaging around £2,000. Although if you want to have that romantic holiday of a lifetime to the Bahamas complete with honeymoon suite, then you could well be set back to around the £5,000 mark. Dresses for the bridal party can also set you back a whopping £1000 if you buy first hand garments, and the average cost of lingerie alone is over £100.

Large costs are often given as a reason for the delay of a wedding. Younger couples, often with fewer monetary assets, may often struggle to find the required cash to pay for their big day. However, there are a number of ways to raise the extra capital required if they own some high value assets.

Many young couples may decide to buy a property together before they walk up the aisle, and having this asset is one of the quickest and easiest routes to get some immediate cash. You can take a secured loan against the value of your house, which can be of a large value paid off over the very long term. Because the loan is secure, you will also be likely to obtain one even if you have a poor credit history.

The cost of weddings has not often been a common factor in obtaining secured loans in the past, but the ever mounting costs may often make it a necessity – take a look at the comparison table below for some financial services rates for secured loans.