This is the amount Brits think you should spend on a wedding gift

Would you drop three figures on a gift? (Picture: Getty Images/Tetra images RF) Going to a wedding is a costly exercise, with the average spend for a wedding guest (who isn’t in the bridal party) amounting to around £272. But, let’s forget that for a minute, because there’s actually a certain amount Brits believe you’re obligated to spend on a wedding gift. If you’re close to the bride and groom, people think you should be spending £76 to £100 on the present alone. In fact, 30% of Brits believe you should actually drop more money than that, according to YouGov’s Big Survey on Weddings, with 9% of them thinking it should exceed the £200 mark. Unsurprisingly, those who are better off with household incomes over £70,000 are more likely to drop £100 or more on a gift, while just 22% of those with a household income of less than £25,000 think the same. If you’re not close with the bride and groom, then you’re off the hook. Basically, if you’re an evening guest, the median ‘right’ spend for Britons is somewhere between £26 to £50. Even then, 32% believe this is a little on the generous side, with 24% of them wanting to spend a maximum of £25. Gone are the days where many couples need homeware as wedding gifts, given more than nine in 10 couples who married in 2021 or 2022 were cohabitating prior to tying the knot. Gifts should cost you around £76 to £100 (Picture: Getty Images) The honeymoon fund is a gifting trend that has surged in popularity post-pandemic after Lauren Enever of Prezola, one of the most used gift-list services in the UK, told the i Paper couples want to ‘make-up for lost time’. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. About 20% of Prezola gift lists are money-only, while half were a mix of cash and registry gifts. Of the cash gifts, 60% are specifically honeymoon-fund contributions. This means that just over two thirds of Brits feel comfortable asking for cash instead of a physical present, with less than a quarter finding this a little tacky. What should the bride and groom spend? If you’re a guest expecting drinks on the house, we’re going to have to bring you back down to earth for a sec. While guests openly admit they’d appreciate an open bar, 74% say they think it’s acceptable for the bride and groom to expect you to pay for the alcohol you drink. But, more than a quarter aren’t sold on this idea, with 12% saying it’s somewhat or completely unacceptable for the hosts not to provide free drinks. The bar seems to be the least of the bride and groom’s concerns when it comes to spending money on their big day, though. With the average UK wedding now costing £21,990, according to Hitched, choosing to spend forever together isn’t cheap. The venue should cost you about £1,000 according to Brits, but in reality it’s much more (Picture: Getty Images) What Brits think we should be paying differs dramatically, though. Minus the stag and hen dos or the honeymoon, the median Briton feels that couples should spend no more than £6,000 on their big day. That’s nearly a £16,000 difference. In reality, just a quarter of couples reportedly spend £10,000 or less on their weddings, although this is proof it can be done. Despite venue hire and catering taking up the largest chunk of a couple’s wedding budget, Brits say the median spend for each should be £1,000. That being said, 20% think £2,001 to £5,000 is an appropriate amount for both, and again, in reality the average couple apparently exceeds this, spending £7,408 on catering and £6,040 on a venue, according to Bridebook. What are Brits open to spending the most on? In some bad luck for the guests, people were more inclined to spend the most amount of money on the honeymoon. While the reasonable median spend on a post-wedding getaway came in at £2,000, a blinding 34% of people think it’s acceptable to pay £2,001 to £5,000. The catering should cost you around £1,000 according to Brits (Picture: Getty Images) About 7% feel the amount spent on the honeymoon should be up to an eye-watering £10,000. It tracks, given the popularity of the honeymoon-fund contributions as an alternative to physical gifting, but what are your thoughts on these wedding expectations? Deals of the Day The viral LED face mask with over 350 lights that's currently discounted by £100 A friend said I looked 'snatched' – I credit this new Charlotte Tilbury powder Shop MySweetSmile's biggest Bank Holiday offers before they end Back-to-school shopping just got a lot cheaper thanks to Primark The back-to-school essential parents forget every year – and it could cost them Let us know in the comments below. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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