For Love AND Money
Survey reveals brides-to-be would earn £10,375 if they were paid to plan their own weddings!
The country is still recovering from the mega-celebration which was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding on the 19th May, a spectacle which thrilled and delighted many of us. Who could fail to be touched by the sheer romance of the day, with its fantastic guest list, fabulous fashion and look of love on the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s faces? Not forgetting their incredible kiss under the floral arch on the steps of St George’s Chapel.
With so much to arrange, it’s no wonder the royal couple engaged the services of a wedding planner (and possibly more than one!). While this is a valuable service – sourcing flowers, organising the venue, decorating tables etc – it also, of course, comes at a cost, and many brides-to-be (and grooms) prefer to do their own wedding planning so they can spend their money they’ve saved elsewhere – perhaps on the honeymoon.
Bloom Magic, the popular online flower delivery service, decided to run a national survey and calculate just how much brides-to-be would have earned if they’d been paid a fee for all the hard work they’d done on their own weddings – and the results are interesting!
Based on an average 34.6 days work by a bride-to-be, they could have earned themselves a whopping £10,375! (Based on the average wedding planner’s day rate.) Cue lots of newlywed women changing careers, perhaps…! And even grooms-to-be made a few bob – with an average 30.2 days work, the average groom could have earned £9,057! Bloom Magic have created an interactive map to show how much brides and grooms would have been remunerated on a regional level:
Broken down regionally, the women who would have earned most are the brides-to-be from Northern Ireland, who would have made themselves £12,650 for all their hard work! And it would be money well earned, by the sounds of it; the survey found that 54% of brides say that planning a wedding is more stressful than your full time job, while 11% of them took time off work to do so!
It appears that grooms in Wales put the most time and effort into planning their weddings – Welsh married men say they generated £10,983 in wedding planning fees!
‘It seems like wedding planning is a pretty intense job,’ says Killian Lannen from Bloom Magic. ‘But getting the details just right – from the flowers to the table settings – means that the bride and groom will have a day they will never forget, just like Meghan and Harry!’
To help plan your wedding, Bloom Magic have put together some handy time saving tips:
The Wedding Network
When you have picked one particular vendor that you fall in love with, whether it’s the flowers, photographer or cake maker, ask them who they recommend. Wedding professionals almost always have a tight knit group of vendors they love to work with, so take advantage of their knowledge. It will save you so much time rather than trawling through endless leaflets and spending your weekends at wedding fairs.
Delegation
Your loved ones will more than likely want to be a part of the big day, take advantage of the bridesmaids or the mums who will delight in being asked to look after a specific task such as writing out the addresses on the invitations or decorating the reception area.
Shop Online
Rather than spending hours going around shops looking for reception décor or favours for the guests, browse the Internet. There are also a great variety of blogs and wedding websites which will point you in the direction of the perfect gifts or touches for the special day, allowing you more time with your partner.
A Day Of Appointments
Organisation is key. Take a day out of your diary to make wedding appointments with all the vendors rather than meeting on different days of the week. You’ll be in wedding mode from the first appointment and be able to let each vendor know exactly what you are doing with the other parts of your day.
A Wedding Website
One of the most time consuming parts is waiting for the RSVP’s to come in, with a wedding website your guest will be able to accept your invitation at the click of a button, and you won’t need to spend hours writing out every address!