10-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
One in four couples spending up to €50,000 to pay for wedding, with almost a half willing to go into debt for celebration
And the average budget for an Irish wedding is now between €10,000 and €20,000, according to research carried out by online savings platform Raisin Bank.
For those who tied the knot in the past five years, the average wedding spend was around €10,000.
Costs are rising for those who have yet to tie the knot. And budgets for the big day vary hugely, according to the Raisin Bank Wedding Report 2025.
The research found that 45pc of those surveyed said they were willing to go into debt to fund the marriage ceremony and celebrations on the day.
Weddings are big business, with many couples opting for big events in stately homes with others decamping with friends to sun-soaked beaches abroad to mark the occasion.
The survey found that nearly half of respondents feel social stress at weddings.
Just 8pc of couples kept the cost of their celebrations under €1,000. A quarter spent between €20,000 and €49,999.
The largest group, 30pc, landed in the €10,000 to €19,999 range.
On a per-guest basis, that translates to an average spend of €100 to €200.
Another 28pc of respondents kept things modest, spending no more than €5,000.
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It is not clear how much spending has changed in recent years as this is the first time Raisin commissioned a report on wedding costs.
Eight-hundred adults who are married or are planning to get married were surveyed by market research firm Pollfish for the report.
Raisin said weddings can be expensive and are right up there with buying a home or putting a child through college as one of life's major financial milestones.
Researchers for the bank found that more than 90pc of married Irish people say they put money aside for their big day. Among those under 30, that figure climbs to 98pc.
Of those who saved, 57pc saved for a year or more, while the remaining 43pc managed to pull it together in under 12 months.
One in four took more than two years to save for their celebration and 46pc of married people in Ireland ended up taking on debt to cover the costs.
Debt isn't always a bad thing – as long as it's manageable
Among couples under 30, that figure shoots up to 67pc. For those aged 50 to 64, this drops to about one in five.
Just over half of respondents took out a personal loan. Nearly one-third of respondents borrowed from family or friends. One in five opted for their overdraft facility.
People getting hitched prefer cash over other types of gifts, with 85pc of respondents agreeing that cash in an envelope is the way to go.
The largest chunk of respondents prefer a sum of between €100 and €200.
Almost one in five respondents – and one in four of the under-30s – put in €300 or more.
Raisin Ireland country head Eoghan O'Hara warned those getting married to be careful about taking on debt.
'Debt isn't always a bad thing – as long as it's manageable,' he said.
'The key is to set a realistic budget, understand what your monthly repayments might look like, and make sure the cost of the big day doesn't hang over your married life like a cloud.'
