Save early for your Big Day

As the National Wedding Show, the UK's largest exhibition for prospective brides and grooms, is set to open its doors in Earls Court this weekend, fund manager F&C warns of the spiralling cost of financing "the Big Day" and highlights the need to save as early as possible.

According to weddingguideuk.com, a website offering advice to couples planning for their wedding day, with the average cost of a wedding dress at £700, a cake at £200, and the reception coming in at £4,250, getting married in modern Britain has become a very expensive business. However, not only are weddings rising again in popularity, the wedding industry has received a further boost with the introduction of civil partnership ceremonies.

Jason Hollands, Director, Head of Group Communications for F&C, said: "The preparation and cost that goes into weddings is far greater than ever before. Gone are the days of a buffet at the village hall followed by a honeymoon caravanning on the Cornish coast. Spurred on by high profile celebrity weddings, the pressure on couples today to impress their guests with a lavish bash and a honeymoon in an exotic far-away location has seen the cost of the average UK wedding rise to a staggering £11,000. However, many couples will spend a multiple of this.

"Tradition has it that the parents of the bride pay for their daughter's wedding but in the modern world, the high cost of a wedding has meant that more often than not the bride and groom will shoulder most of the expenses, often on credit. The financial burden means that many couples, some of whom are already struggling with mortgage repayments, can feel under a lot of stress. It is essential that you start saving early."

Hollands said the government's introduction of Child Trust Funds in 2004 to help parents make financial provisions for their children, was one way of saving for a wedding. "F&C offers parents the opportunity to invest in the stock markets with a choice of investment trusts available through its Child Trust Fund. Although stock market investment are inherently riskier than cash or fixed income, historically and over long periods of time, equities have outperformed both cash and fixed income investments. Parents wishing to pay for their offspring's wedding today for example, would have had to invested just £21 per month in the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust for the last 18 years, to have accumulated the sum of £11,174 today," concluded Hollands.