This is how much it costs to go to your friend’s wedding

Spoiler alert: it’s a lot

wedding guest cost

Spoiler alert: it’s a lot

While there’s much hoo-ha about how much it really costs to have a wedding, there’s not much talk about the problem here, which is how much you need to fork out as a wedding guest. Though recently it was recently it was revealed that this is how much you spend on a wedding gift (sorry what?).

Because if you think about it, you’re going to be attending a lot more weddings than you will be getting married. Hopefully.

Well now the average cost of going to a friend’s wedding has been revealed, and in a not so surprising twist, it’s a lot. In fact, it’s the equivalent of almost a full week’s pay.

According to research by Paymentsense, who polled 2,000 people, Brits spend around £498 for every wedding they go to. That includes hen and stag dos, as well as travel and accommodation for the big day.

Men tend to spend more, with an average of £573 per wedding (ouch), while it ends up costing women about £428. The hen do alone costs an average of £207.08, which makes sense considering the trend for get-togethers abroad.

Given that towards your thirties, you're probably going to about four weddings a year, that's about a month's salary. Or a holiday.

Not that we're feeling cynical here, but that little fact might be worth bearing in mind next time it comes to RSVP'ing...

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.