PacePotMany UK couples spend between £15,000 and £20,000 on their wedding, but the average tells you almost nothing useful. The number that matters is the one you can actually save for without starting married life in debt.
What UK weddings actually cost
According to Hitched's annual UK Wedding Survey, the average UK wedding cost around £20,775 in 2024. London weddings average significantly higher, often £35,000 to £40,000, while weddings in the North of England and Wales tend to come in at £12,000 to £18,000. Venue hire, catering, and guest count drive most of the difference between regions.
Where the money goes
A typical mid-range budget of around £18,000 breaks down roughly like this:
| Item | Typical cost | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| Venue hire | £4,000–£8,000 | ~30% |
| Catering and drinks | £3,500–£6,000 | ~25% |
| Photography and videography | £1,500–£3,000 | ~10% |
| Dress, suit, and beauty | £1,500–£3,000 | ~12% |
| Flowers, decor, and music | £1,500–£3,000 | ~13% |
| Stationery, cake, rings, and extras | £800–£2,000 | ~10% |
Catering runs between £60 and £120 per head at most venues. Cutting twenty guests saves £1,200 to £2,400 before you negotiate on anything else. Guest count is the single biggest lever on the total cost.
Turn your budget into a monthly saving
Once you've agreed a total, divide it by the months until the wedding. Here is what saving for a range of budgets looks like:
| Budget | 18 months away | 24 months away | 36 months away |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10,000 | £556/mo | £417/mo | £278/mo |
| £15,000 | £833/mo | £625/mo | £417/mo |
| £20,000 | £1,111/mo | £833/mo | £556/mo |
| £25,000 | £1,389/mo | £1,042/mo | £694/mo |
Split between two people and every figure halves. A £20,000 wedding saved for over 24 months works out at £417 each per month. Getting engaged early and opening a dedicated savings pot immediately makes a large difference to how comfortable the saving feels day to day.
Set your wedding budget and date, and PacePot shows the monthly amount to save. Track it together as you go.
Open the wedding savings calculatorHow to reduce the total without reducing the day
Choose an off-peak date
Many venues charge 20 to 40% less for winter Saturdays, Sundays, and Fridays compared to summer Saturdays. A January or February wedding at the same venue can cost £3,000 to £5,000 less. Weather is the only real trade-off, and indoor venues make it almost irrelevant.
Trim the guest list before anything else
Every additional guest adds catering, seating, favours, and stationery costs. An intimate wedding of 50 guests is typically half the price of a 100-person event. Many couples find smaller weddings feel more personal anyway. Draw the guest list before you set the budget, not after.
Prioritise two or three things
Most couples have one or two things that genuinely matter to them: a specific venue, great food, or a particular photographer. Spend properly on those and keep everything else simple. A good photographer is worth the money. Hand-made centrepieces from a craft shop are indistinguishable from expensive florist ones by 9pm.
Watch for the "wedding" markup
The same catering, flowers, and hire cars sometimes cost more when ordered for a wedding than for any other event. Getting quotes for "a private party for 80 people" before mentioning the occasion can produce noticeably lower prices from some suppliers.
Keep your emergency fund separate
Save for the wedding in a dedicated account, completely separate from your emergency fund and other savings goals. Ring purchases, dress fittings, and venue deposits all fall due at different times over the engagement. Tracking the wedding fund separately prevents confusion about where you actually stand at any given point and stops a big deposit from accidentally depleting your emergency buffer.