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Wedding Survey 2019

1 9th July 2021 by James Veal Leave a Comment

Results Of The National Wedding Survey 2019

This is an insight into weddings held in 2019, before the ‘pandemic’. A guide to costs, venues, and all things wedding day. Due to the severe lack of proper weddings in 2020, this is the most up-to-date information available. See how your plans compare to the averages of 2019.

The Average UK Wedding in 2019

So how much was an average wedding in 2019?. This changes from year to year and the 2019 cost was marginally lower than in 2018.

Almost half of the couples’ married in 2019 had some contribution towards their wedding costs from parents. Mostly their weddings were paid from savings with 20% using credit cards and 10% taking out a loan.

How to save money on your wedding

Top 5 Wedding Costs

How are couples spending their wedding budget? The order of priority generally stays the same from year to year. The venue was the single most costly part of a wedding. The honeymoon comes next.

Wedding Venue

The choice of wedding venue was responsible for the biggest spend in 2019. It was down by 3% on the previous year.

For the first time, in 2019, hotels dropped to 2nd place behind country houses and stately homes. The draw of having exclusive venue use combined with that extra special treatment proved to be very popular with couples.

The Honeymoon

Often combined with an annual holiday, the average cost in 2019 was just under £5000.

The most popular honeymoon destination in 2019 was The Maldives with 12% of couples choosing this small group of islands in the Indian Ocean. 75% of couples planned a honeymoon. Short breaks to Italy, Spain, and Greece were popular overseas locations. The South West of the UK and Scotland ranked high in UK honeymoons.

Wedding Food

From nibbles, the wedding breakfast, hog roast, ice cream, pizzas, and the buffet, a lot of food was consumed in 2019. Total average cost, £3750.

Engagement Rings

Total average cost £4000

Drinks

Celebratory drinks for the toast, wine for the dinner tables, soft drinks came in 4th on the list of expenses at a whopping £2500.

Engagement

68% of couples met in person despite the rising use of dating apps. At work or through your friends and family accounted for more than a third of meetings. At a pub or club and at university both came in more popular than Tinder, with only 8% of couples meeting there. 0% of our couples said they’d met on their commute.

Over 40% of couples got engaged on holiday, making it the most popular way by far. Valentine’s Day only accounts for 2% of engagements with Christmas, birthdays, and engagements being very popular.

Social media is a dynamic and important part of the modern-day. Almost 50% of couples announced their engagement within 24 hours and 10% within the first hour. 25% spent more on decor for better social media images and 42% shared their wedding journey online.

Average Ages

The average age of couples being married is creeping up. In 2019 the average bride was 32 and the groom was 34. This is up one year for each from 2018.

How Many Guests?

Recent years have seen larger daytime guest numbers. 2019 saw the average being 83. An additional 21 people were invited to join in with the evening celebrations.

Dress In Style

The wedding ceremony and the first look at the bride have a huge impact on the guests. Almost every bride went for a traditional wedding dress spending an average of £1350 for the perfect gown.

Grooms had a much smaller budget of £452 to buy their suit.

Break With Tradition

American traditions appear to be on the rise, while British ones are falling out of favour. The majority of couples no longer have page boys or flower girls, and very few bother to toss the garter and carry a silver sixpence. Big, multi-day hen and stag ‘events’ have taken their lead from US bachelor and bachelorette parties. in 2019, you happily spent £555 on the stag and £475 on the hen.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

The average number of Bridesmaids and Groomsmen continues to rise slowly. 20% of couples had more than 4 with the average being 3. The focus seems to be shifting towards having best friends as a big part of a wedding day to the exclusion of page boys and flower girls.

Who’s Name?

An increasing number of brides, 25%, keep their own names after marriage often adopting a double-barreled surname. It is still most popular for brides to adopt their partner’s surname, but there’s been a rise in keeping your own surname or hyphenating them both. 8% of you can’t bear to part with your maiden name.

Gifting

20% of couples had a gift list for guests to choose from. The most popular options though were asking for cash or honeymoon vouchers.

DJ

Wedding music is an essential part of any wedding day. The average fee in 2019 was just under £600

Related posts:

  1. FAQ’s
  2. Choosing a Wedding DJ
  3. TESTIMONIALS
  4. Weddings

Filed Under: Opinions, Reception, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Vows Tagged With: Wedding Day, Wedding Reception, Wedding Survey

Recommend A Friend

1 7th July 2021 by James Veal Leave a Comment

Recommend A Friend to Premier Disco

Premier Disco Referral Program

Program A

If you refer Premier Disco to a friend and they hire me to do an event,
I will deduct 10% from your final payment of your event.
Tell two friends, who hire me and save 20% and so on!
(Referral must sign their agreement & pay retainer fee before your event takes place)

Program B

If you refer Premier Disco to a friend and they hire me to do an event,
but they sign their service agreement & pay their retainer fee
after your event takes place, I will send you a
5% referral thank you gift certificate to your favorite restaurant.
This is ongoing ‘forever’ so you can get
regular gift cards from regular referral

Conditions

1) The referral must let us know before their signing that you have referred them to Premier Disco.
2) The referral must provide your event ID number when booking their event.

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Filed Under: Reception, Wedding, Wedding, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Vows Tagged With: DJ referral, Wedding DJ

Camille & Emmanuel 19/10/19

1 22nd October 2019 by James Veal Leave a Comment

This was the first time for me at the French Consulate in Edinburgh. The occasion was the wedding of Camille and Emmanuel and the party for all their guests.

Wedding DJ French Consulate wall plaque
Wall plaque on the French Consulate in Edinburgh
Premier Disco Upstairs landing at the French Consulate Edinburgh
French Consulate wedding bar and Premier Disco

I always like to perform at a venue I have never been to before so was keen to what was ahead of me at the French Consulate. It is a pretty grand building with some great staff.

Hire an experienced Wedding DJ

The first, and very important, thing to impress me was the lift. This place has a lift! Unlike next door, at the Signet Library, where it almost kills me every time. A nice, easy access in a decent time left me plenty of time to set up my smaller than normal rig into the limited space I had for the night.

The wedding breakfast and dinner were held in the Edinburgh Suite which looks like a conferencing room. By the time the room was all decorated, it looked great.

It was a long day from the set up at 5pm. Dinner at 730 and dancing from 1030 until 130.

Premier Disco Wedding breakfast at the French Consulate
Premier Disco Wedding Breakfast at the French Consulate

Music

I have plenty of experience performing at weddings but it is not very often I have been asked to do a full French wedding. Although confident that this would be a successful and enjoyable night, I was a bit apprehensive due to the large number of French songs chosen for the reception.

To best DJ any event there is a need to know and understand the music selection before you. There is a need for the knowledge of how to put certain pieces of music together in the right way. To achieve this there is also a need to know the music pretty well.

My knowledge of French music is pretty much as good as my French language, limited to a couple of words. So with the help of the bride and groom’s list, I did what I could on the night. I ROCKED it! Unexpectedly the result was exactly as desired by the happy couple.

Everyone attending was just brilliant. Even when trying ceilidh dancing there was great banter and giggles. It is so much harder explaining the dances to people with a limited understanding of English, or my brand of Scottish at least.

Great people, great fun and a very successful night all round.

Premier DJ preparing for the evening receception at the French Consulate in Edinburgh

Thank you to Camille and Emmanuel for your hospitality and for having me perform at your wedding reception.

Congratulations to both of you and have a great life together.

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Filed Under: Reception, Venues, Wedding, Wedding Ceremony Tagged With: French Consulate, Premier Disco, Wedding Day, Wedding Reception

Mr & Mrs Derek Smith

1 29th July 2019 by James Veal Leave a Comment

Archerfield Waterfront was the venue for the wonderful wedding of Pauline & Derek Smith.

Our First Meeting

Little did I know that the initial contact from Pauline and Derek would have ended on such a fantastic night for an amazing couple. At our, relaxed, initial meeting I could see the plans falling into place.

I have rarely seen such a relaxed couple.

So well organised with a definite plan for the correct outcome would be an understatement. They both knew exactly what they wanted and seemed very happy with my proposal on how to go forward.

Booking made, now to get everything in place.

Premier Wedding DJ Happy Couple

Planning

By using their very own wedding planning site, part of the package of services we provide to our couples, Pauline and Derek set to work on their soundtrack for their special day. We ended up with a very eclectic selection of music for me on the night. With a bit of my imagination and requests from guests, the whole night was amazing.

Hire an experienced Wedding DJ

From the very first dance, there was a dancefloor more or less full to the end of the night, just the way we all like it to be.

I enjoy doing what I do, but a night like this makes it extra special.

First Dance

It was very important to Pauline and Derek that the first dance should involve as many of the guests as possible. Something romantic, with the right message but something everyone would feel comfortable enough to dance to.

The final choice of Andy Williams’ Can’t Take My Eyes Off You was perfect for that result. A slow starter for the bride and groom then bursting into life just in time for the guests to join in.

Andy Williams – Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
The first dance to set of a great night on exactly the right note

Setup

To be absolutely certain of everything being ready in plenty of time and to make sure I was ready technically, the set up started at 11 am.

Having plenty of time I didn’t need to rush the setup I could make it just right. Normally I am given maybe 45 minutes to do a full set up and start the first dance. That is a challenge! Getting changed into fresh clothes after set up takes 10minutes alone.

I drifted in ready for the reception nice and early to start everything up for the final check before the cake cutting.

Archerfield is an amazing venue for a wedding reception. The staff are the friendliest you could meet and it is always a pleasure to work with them to make a magical night.

Premier Disco setting up for the wedding of
Derek & Pauline Smith at Archerfield
Waterfront

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Filed Under: Wedding, Wedding Ceremony Tagged With: Archerfield, PremierDisco, PremierDJ, Time-lapse, Waterfront, Wedding ceremony, Wedding Day

10 Things you should know to make your wedding a party

1 5th September 2017 by James Veal Leave a Comment

10 Things you should know to make your wedding a party
By James Veal

Premier Disco 10 Things you need to know about your wedding

Premier Disco are wedding professionals. We perform at weddings throughout the country every single week of every year. We see what works and what doesn’t. We are there to make every party special by keeping the dance floor full. Your wedding day is special to you and it should be as you wish. We trust you wish it to be a day for everyone attending to remember fondly.

To help us out, you will find below a list of 10 things you really should know.

1. Give us your music request list.

Requests definitely make our job easier. We are well able to provide your soundtrack for your wedding day without any help but your list will let us know what you would like to hear. We limit the number of requests you make so we can use our experience, after all that is what you are paying for, to add variety.

By playing the right songs your party will be great but give us the flexibility to use your list to build the night and your night will be even better. Contrary to popular belief, we do actually structure your night to have a flow of music to best keep the dance floor full for the whole night.

We have many years experience judging how a night will flow so a scripted list of music to play at set times does not work in the flow. Let us know what you would like and let us best decide when to play it.

Hire an experienced Wedding DJ

2. Don’t ask your guests for suggestions on your invitations.

We try to discourage our brides and grooms from asking guests for a music track they would like to hear when they send out the invitations. Some will ask for songs as a joke or to be funny. Some will ask for music that just will not fit into your reception. Others will ask for inappropriate songs.

As part of our service, your guests can ask for up to 5 songs each. On your planner site there is a link and password details you can send to some of your guests. Their requests will be kept separate from yours so we know exactly what you would like. This will mean we have a big list of music but we will also be able to check it over properly to make sure anything we play is appropriate. Guest requests are secondary to yours but will be given the correct consideration. Any requests submitted are not guaranteed to be played.

3. Encourage your venue to have the bar and seating in the same room as the dance floor.

Our experience of venues where the bar and seating are in a separate room from the dance floor is that guests will go to the bar or for a seat and often not come back for a considerable time. It is more difficult for them to hear the music so they are less likely to dance. They are detached from the positive energy the DJ is generating and nothing he does can inspire them to return to the dance floor.

A certain way to kill the party is to separate your guests from the entertainment.

4. Don’t stop the flow

Your DJ will have a plan for the development and structure of your night. This is very fluid and he can change his mind many times a minute. Be positive, make sure your formalities are over before your DJ begins his part of the night.

Asking to stop the music in the middle of a set so someone can make a speech or take a photo will immediately kill any energy already built up. It is then far more difficult for the DJ to get the audience motivated or back to the same level of energy before the interruption.

Don’t stop the DJ to let a guest sing, if you want a singer then let the DJ know at the start. Give him all the information about music and times so he can plan.

5. Consider your guests when allocating seating

Don’t put very young or older people in front of the speakers. Reserve these areas for your younger, party going or clubbing guests.

Don’t sit older people directly opposite the DJ.

Young and old do not like the music too loud or lights shining in their eyes. Position them appropriately at the sides of the room or as far away as possible.

The loudest area is right in front of the speakers, plan ahead so everyone can enjoy the night.

6. Wedding games?

We all want a busy dance floor. Having games in other parts of the room will detract from the dancing. Dancers are like magnets, the more dancers you have, the more people will want to dance. If your guests are busy playing casino at the other side of the room, nobody will want to dance.

If you have games, make sure they are at the early part of your night and are put well out of the way when the party gets started,

7. The Bride and Groom MUST dance!

Every last guest is there because you invited them. They are there to party. As the bride and groom you are the centre of attention. If you are on the dance floor then your guest will join you. If you are outside or at the bar then that is where your guests will also be.

8. Time for Dancing.

This is your day. This is the best day of your life up to this point. There are certain formalities and technicalities that need to take place so do your best to have them done properly and in good time.

There are many events on the day which can easily run over time. The photos, the speeches, the meal, the venue change over. Try to make sure everything happens when it is meant to.

Your DJ will have to set up equipment before your reception. This takes time, usually up to one hour, and no amount of pushing this to be done quicker because ‘the breakfast was late’ can make this happen any faster. It is what it is and it will take the time it will take.

Maybe this can be done before your wedding breakfast or maybe your DJ will provide a full day service. In these cases this is not a problem. If your wedding is due to start at 730pm but doesn’t start until 9pm, your evening party will be a lot shorter.

You will be glad you made sure everything runs as planned, maybe get your Best Man to take the responsibility of keeping to time, or as close as.

9. Plan in advance.

Your online planning page is a fantastic resource for providing information about timings, music and much more. Please make sure you use it to your advantage.

So we can get everything planned, or even rehearsed, your access to the planner closes 7 days before your wedding. Please do not ask for changes after this time.

Your DJ will be co-coordinating with venue staff, caterers, photographers and any other suppliers you have on your day. Any single, seemingly simple change can create confusion and miscommunication, a recipe for disaster.

Keep it simple, keep it planned, keep it right.

10. ENJOY YOURSELF

Simple as that, enjoy!

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Filed Under: Advice, Opinions, Reception, Wedding, Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Vows – Back them up and keep them safe

1 20th September 2016 by James Veal Leave a Comment

What would you do if you lost your wedding vows?

You spend weeks, if not months, preparing your wedding vows for the all-important day. You want to make sure you get it right and it is on your mind 24/7. Now imagine if you lost your wedding vows when you are preparing them. Worse still, what if you couldn’t find them just before your ceremony.

It makes sense, and gives you peace of mind, to back them up.

Many modern couples read their vows directly from phones or tablets. We are surrounded by technology invading every part of our lives. Why not your wedding?

Premier Disco Evernote backup your vows

Gone are the days of scraps of paper for your notes or the A4 sheet with your vows just in case you forget them. It is far more common than you may think for one of a couple to forget their vows. Wedding vows are becoming more complicated, more in-depth, and more forgettable.

Hire an experienced Wedding DJ

Use technology to make sure it all goes to plan.

From the off, instead of using scraps of paper to keep your notes, you should be using a more permanent and shareable way to plan your wedding vows. At the least, you should prepare them and store them on a computer. This way you can call them up any time to make changes or additions.

Better still, back them up online. Use one of the many cloud services to store your vows so you can access them anywhere. There are many options around but one of the best has to be Evernote. Remote access at any time including your ceremony if you need to.

Imagine misplacing your vows on your wedding day just when you would like to read them through. Imagine standing at the altar and your mind going blank.

Bride and Groom Exchanging Rings Premier Disco
Exchanging Rings

One final safeguard, email your wedding vows to yourself and a trusted person.

It makes perfect sense to have a copy online and your phone in your pocket. If the worse comes to the worst, at least you can save the day.

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Filed Under: Advice, Opinions, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Vows Tagged With: Security, Wedding Vows

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