£17,000.. but aisle be there for you

BRIDE-TO-BE SPENDS FORTUNE

SPLASHING out £16,600 on a score of hen trips, prezzies and outfits in only three years – Becki Wainwright is a wedding guest extraordinaire.

She voyaged to Ibiza and Cyprus and is off to Spain in September as she celebrates pals becoming brides.

Becki has been to 20 weddings since 2016 and the cost is £1,600 more than her own will be next year.

She and her fiancé Craig Byam spent £6,000 on hen and stag do’s, £5,000 on accommodation, £3,000 on travel, £1,000 on gifts, £800 on outfits and £800 on drinks and extras.

But marketing specialist Becki, 26, doesn’t regret a penny of it.

She said: “I was shocked when I sat down and did the sums. Nearly £17,000. That’s enough for a new car plus a couple of luxury holidays.

“Some people will think that’s a crazy amount to spend on other people’s weddings.

“Not me – every penny has been well worth it.

“I adore my friends and family and would spend whatever it took to share the most important day of their lives with them.”

The spending started in 2016 when Becki attended 12 weddings and seven hen parties. There were three in 2017 but a modest five this year.

Becki and Craig, who works in construction, earn average salaries and used most of their spare cash to pay for the celebrations – spending way more than the average £266 cost of attending a wedding. She said: “We’re lucky. We don’t have children. We’ve got our house. We both work full time.

“We always found the money somehow. With a lot of these things you pay in advance, so our expenses were staggered.

“We genuinely had no idea the final tally would be so much.

“The way I look at it is we got lots of fun nights out with the people we love and weekend getaways.

Fantastic

“I don’t see why people get negative about the cost of attending weddings. It’s pure fun.”

As well as the European trips Becki has visited north, south, east and west in the UK – from Edinburgh to Brighton and Norwich to Liverpool. There have been quaint countryside soirees and ultra-glam urban affairs.

Becki went on: “One of the most fun weddings was a destination in Ibiza.