Why couples DO like Mondays...
. . . because getting married early in the week is now the most affordable way to tie the knot
THE premium paid to wed at the weekend is now so high, couples could save enough for a honeymoon by opting for a Monday instead.
Money Mail has found venues charge up to three times more for Saturday weddings. Hiring a photographer, limousine or florist is usually more expensive, too.
The cost has forced frugal families to abandon the idea of a Saturday, with soaring numbers opting for a Thursday, Friday or Sunday. But, while traditionally cheaper, we found many venues are also hiking prices for these days of the week.
It means if you want to keep costs down, you need to get married on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday — and could save around £5,340 by avoiding a Saturday.
This sum would pay for a two-week honeymoon in the Seychelles, including excursions and a five-star hotel.
Gaia Hudson, editor of the Brides Keeping It Real wedding blog, says social media sites are already putting pressure on couples to spend beyond their means to marry in a glamorous venue.
‘People want to have the pictures to share on Instagram,’ she says, ‘and it means that costs can mount up.’
The number of couples resorting to a weekday wedding has soared by about a quarter in the past five years, say industry professionals. While this may save the bride and groom a large sum, it can be a headache for family and friends.
Helen Pye, of Hitched.co.uk, says: ‘With the big cash saving of a midweek wedding comes the inconvenience to guests. They will likely have to use a day of annual leave, which, for some, may be impossible.’
Yet, because of the rising cost of getting married, many couples have no choice.
In 2018, the average bride and groom spent £32,273 — a £5,112 increase on the previous year, according to Hitched.
Venue hire is typically the most expensive part, costing an average £5,221.
Money Mail analysed the weekday and weekend prices of 20 UK wedding venues, based on what a couple would pay for a June event with 100 guests. We found 16 of these charge higher prices for Saturday weddings.
Four ask for twice as much for a Saturday as a Monday, and a further four add more than 50pc to the Saturday price.
Sopley Mill, a former windmill in Christchurch, Dorset, charges £1,495 for a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Couples booking Saturdays have to pay £5,895.
At South Farm in Royston, Cambridgeshire, booking the venue on a Saturday costs £6,700 before VAT. This is nearly 200pc more than the £2,250 (before VAT) it costs to book Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
The amount that you spend on catering for Saturdays doubles, too — from £3,100 to £6,200. This means a wedding there could cost £7,550 more than on a weekday.
It is often also more expensive to book a venue for a Thursday,
Friday or Sunday. Ten of the venues surveyed advertised higher prices on one or all of these days. Six of these charge higher fees for Thursdays.
Couples who book a Thursday wedding for 100 guests at Pendrell Hall, in Wolverhampton, pay £3,950 — 33 pc higher than the £2,950 price of a Monday booking.
Crockwell Farm, Northamptonshire, offers a three-day wedding package for £8,650 for those who want to tie the knot on a Saturday — £4,700 more expensive than a Monday or Tuesday celebration.
By comparison, the Church of England has a flat fee of £496 for weddings in couples’ home parishes — no matter which day.
Dawn Marie, a wedding planner in Northumberland for 24 years, says: ‘Some venues have become greedy, but there’s a limit to how much they will be able to push the difference in costs between weekends and weekdays. Fewer people these days work a Monday to Friday week.’
A Pendrell Hall spokesman says: ‘We apply significant discounts to our venue hire price for weekday weddings.’
A Crockwell Farm spokesman says: ‘Like all venues, our prices take into consideration a range of costs that vary across the week, months and seasons.’
A Sopley Mill spokesman says: ‘Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays aren’t popular, so we offer substantial discounts then.’ South Farm declined to comment.
A National Association of Wedding Professionals spokesman says: ‘It is not that Saturdays are unjustifiably expensive or disproportionately priced for the service booked, it’s that other weekdays are not popular for weddings and unlikely to get booked.’