The summer is not just big for weddings it’s also peak season for wedding anniversarycelebrations too. New research has revealed annually romantic Britons spend £738 million on celebrating the date they got married.
Annually, Over half (54%) of British married couples mark and celebrate the date that they exchanged their vows and got married.
The research conducted by Travelodge, who is celebrating its 30th (Pearl) anniversary this year, surveyed 2,000 couples to seek their views on celebrating their wedding anniversary in today’s modern world
Key research findings revealed that romance is certainly alive and kicking in Britain as married couples are spending on average £111.11 to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Loved up couples are spending on average £69.97 on going away or a night out and around £41.14 on a gift.
The research also found that couples living in London are the biggest anniversary spenders and will splash out £41.89 more than the average spend of £111.11 and fork out £153.00 on their wedding anniversary celebrations.
The second biggest spenders are Geordie lovebirds who will spend on average £150.84 and in third place are couples in Cambridge who spend £140.04 on their anniversary celebrations. The table below reveals the UK’s highest and lowest anniversary spenders.
Biggest Spenders | Lowest Spenders | ||
Location | Amount | Location | Amount |
London | £153.00 | Gloucester | £48.57 |
Newcastle | £150.84 | Wrexham | £61.17 |
Cambridge | £143.04 | Worcester | £61.66 |
Norwich | £139.60 | Bristol | £71.17 |
Birmingham | £139.46 | Edinburgh | £80.65 |
Southampton | £138.84 | Oxford | £81.19 |
Cardiff | £130.55 | Brighton | £81.75 |
Wolverhampton | £129.29 | Chelmsford | £83.85 |
Portsmouth | £126.77 | Dundee | £88.63 |
Ipswich | £124.48 | Hull | £90.17 |
The research also found men are the most romantic on celebrating their wedding anniversaryand will dig deep into their wallets and spend on average £124.49 whilst women spend on average £99.47 – a reduction of £25.02.
However, this gesture is not always appreciated as 20% of women wish their partner would ask them what they want before buying a gift.
Further research findings revealed that 41% of adults mark their anniversary by going out for a romantic meal, whilst a fifth, (20% of couples) go all out and whisk their partner away on a romantic UK break.
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge spokeswoman said: “Romance is certainly alive and kicking in Britain as we have we have experienced a growing trend in anniversary staycation breaks. Nowadays, going away is a cost effective and memorable way of celebrating a special occasion. Therefore couples are forgoing the romantic meal out and opting to celebrate their wedding date by spending quality time together and exploring a romantic part of Britain.”
“Top anniversary staycation destinations include rural hotspots such as the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and The Scottish Highlands. Also historic city breaks are very popular foranniversary breaks with Oxford, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and Bath being top choices. As well as coastal breaks in: Cornwall, Brighton and Bournemouth.”
The study also tested respondent’s knowledge of traditional names for wedding anniversariesand findings revealed that modern Britons are clueless when it comes to gift giving for milestone anniversaries.
Four out of ten (41%) of couples didn’t know that a 25th wedding anniversary is represented by silver. Seven out of ten respondents didn’t know that pearls are symbolic to a 30thwedding anniversary. Whilst 60% of adults were clueless that 40 years of marriage are represented by the gem stone ruby and 85% of adults are not aware that diamond marks a 60th wedding anniversary.
The report also found from the 46% of couples who don’t celebrate their weddinganniversary, 20% of adults reported that they cannot remember their wedding date whilst 13% of respondents stated that they are too busy to celebrate their wedding date.
The End
Notes to Editors:
For further information, please contact:
Travelodge Press Office on: 01844 358 703
email: pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
The research was conducted among 2,000 married adults by OnePoll in May 2015.
The £738 million has been calculated using the following formula
ONS figures state there are 12.3 million married couples in the UK
54% of 12.3 million is 6,642,000
6,642,000 spend on average £111.11 on celebrating their wedding anniversary this equates to: £737,992,62 million