Wedding gifts cost Brits an extra £129m per year

While organising weddings may be expensive, it is not just the happy couple who have to fork out for their nuptials.

As we approach the wedding season, research from online bank first direct reveals that, at a time when people are looking to reduce their outgoings, the average amount spent on a wedding gift in the UK has actually increased from £47 to just over £51 in the last year.

With the average UK wedding hosting 96 guests, this is a total gift value of £4,896 per wedding, which could amount to a £1.2billion wedding gift bill for UK guests over the course of a year. That's an increase of around £129m since 2011.

The age group likely to give the most is 18-24 year olds who plan to spend a whopping £63 on each gift. At the other end of the spectrum it seems 55-64 year olds don't splash their cash as readily and plan to spend £46, only slightly less than 2011's average.

There is also a division between the genders, as men are far more ready to splash their cash when buying a wedding gift, spending £61 on average compared with just £41 for women.

Across the UK, people from London are the most generous wedding guests, paying out on average £80 for wedding gifts, while people in the North East spend the least, at just under £38.

Bruno Genovese, Senior Savings Product Manager said, "We all know that paying for a wedding is expensive for the father of the bride, or the couple if they are paying for it themselves. However, it can also be expensive to be a guest especially when you take into consideration the cost of a new outfit, a stay in a hotel and drinks at the reception.  If you're lucky enough to have lots of friends and family getting married, now might be the time to start saving."