Most wedding cost figures come from surveys that ask couples what they spent after the day. Ours come from the budgets couples set and the costs they log while they plan. It's a view from the middle of planning, from couples who are still making the decisions.
The typical budget is about £19,000
The median UK couple in ForeverAfter sets a budget of about £19,000. Half of couples sit between £12,000 and £25,000, so the spread is wide. A £12,000 wedding and a £25,000 wedding are both ordinary.
Hitched puts the average UK wedding at £20,700. That figure is an average of what couples spent, and a few very large weddings pull an average up. A median is the couple in the middle, which is why ours is a little lower. Our UK wedding cost guide has the breakdown by region.
About £260 a guest
Divide the budget by the guest list and the typical couple is planning for about £260 a head. Half of couples fall between about £190 and £340. That figure covers the whole day, not just the food, but it's a useful check when the guest list starts to grow.
The venue takes 30%
For the typical couple, the venue is 30% of everything they spend. Ranked by the total money couples put into each category, the order is:
- Venue
- Catering and bar
- Photography and video
- Outfits, hair and make-up
- Flowers and decor
- Music and entertainment
Catering is second, and it's tied to the guest count in a way the venue often isn't. Our catering costs guide covers per-head pricing in more detail.
Most couples are sticking to their budget
The typical couple who has logged their main costs has committed 97% of their budget. Only 11% have gone over so far. Plenty of these weddings are still months away, and late costs do turn up, so that share will probably rise. Even so, most couples are holding close to the number they set at the start.
If you haven't set a number yet, the wedding budget calculator splits a total across the categories above, and the budget guide helps you decide what to cut first.
About the data
This report uses anonymised, aggregated budgets and costs from UK couples who planned with ForeverAfter between January and October 2026. Every amount is a median of figures the couples entered, in pounds. We removed test accounts, our own team's weddings and implausible budgets, and we read no names or contact details. The per-guest figure only includes couples with a substantial guest list in the app.
Writing about wedding costs? Email hello@getforeverafter.com and we'll help where we can.
You can track your own budget for free.