Make sure you’re not left blushing at the altar

Around 70 per cent of all UK weddings take place in the six months between June to November – approximately 170,000 weddings in total. With Brits attending between three and four weddings each year (average is 3.4), we can expect a whopping wedding gift bill of £146 per person per year - a total of £6.7 billion (and that’s just for the presents).

But if you've ever worried over how much you should spend on a wedding present, fear not, as Abbey Current Accounts has conducted research into the etiquette of present buying to make sure it’s only the bride that’s blushing on her big day.

So how much should you spend on a wedding gift?

Abbey’s research shows that the average amount spent on presents for the bride and groom in the UK is £43. If it’s a close family member or best friend getting married, though, you’ll need to spend a bit more as the average cost of a wedding gift goes up to £70 if you’re buying a present for a sibling, son/daughter or cousin. For a random relation, acquaintance or colleague, though, you only need to fork out £23. Friends are evidently worth a little more to us, with the average spend at £34 a head.

We’re getting more generous as a nation, with 46% of us spending more on gifts than we did two years ago. Interestingly, though, 17% of us think that we spend more on other people than they do on us.

What’s more, across the country the value of gifts varies considerably. Contrary to popular belief, the “thrifty” Scots came out as the most generous wedding gift givers in the land. If you’re lucky enough to be related to a Scot, you can expect a gift worth roughly £78, while at the other end of the scale those in Northern England shell out a tenner less on their close relatives at £68. On average, Scots spend £49.13 on wedding gifts and Northerners spend £40.79.

Steve Shore, Head of Banking at Abbey, said: " What to spend on a wedding gift is almost as tricky as finding an item to buy on the wedding list, so hopefully with our guide we can remove some of the potential embarrassment and worry by showing how much to spend and on whom. Abbey's guide shows that if you follow your instincts and put family first, you'll be in good company."