Credit crunch brides opt for Friday weddings to save money on cars, caterers and photographers

New research shows that church weddings, traditionally held on Saturday afternoons, are increasingly taking place a day earlier when cars, caterers and photographers are cheaper.

The trend has been growing for a number of years as the cost of getting married has mushroomed, but Church of England clergy say the phenomenon is even more apparent now as couples struggle to pay for their wedding and a mortgage.

Hundreds of brides are getting hitched on Fridays to save on the spiralling costs of weddings (file picture)

The Rt Rev David James, Bishop of Bradford, said: ‘I am sure the credit crunch is making a difference. Couples are delaying weddings and those who go ahead are very aware of the costs.

‘With weddings now averaging £20,000 or more, people are understandably keen to control their spending. For a lot of churches, Friday weddings are becoming a regular
feature, and we are far more open to what couples want.’

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the percentage of religious weddings taking place on a Friday rose from 6 per cent in 1999 to 10 per cent in 2005.

Over the same period, the proportion of such marriages on Saturday, which remains the most popular day with 80 per cent of all religious ceremonies, fell by a similar amount.

And new figures from Ecclesiastical, one of the country’s longest established wedding insurers, show that the Friday trend has continued. It found that between 2002 and 2007, Saturday weddings fell by 5 per cent while those on Friday grew by a similar amount.

Chris Pitt, spokesman for Ecclesiastical, said: ‘Over the last few years we’ve seen a marked increase in the popularity of the Friday wedding.

‘A Friday celebration can cut reception hire costs and even the costs of some of your suppliers. It also means you’re more likely to get the date you want, as Saturdays are booked up far in advance.

‘The trend of Friday weddings looks likely to continue as the financial pressures of the credit crunch take hold.’

Wedding websites report that couples who opt for Friday ceremonies can save thousands of pounds, and guests encounter few difficulties taking the day off work.

One example of the trend is Steve Bell, 28, who married his fiancée, Zoe Rawcliffe, also 28, on Friday in a ceremony in St Andrew’s church, Rugby.

The ceremony will be featured in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship slot on August 31, the first time a non-royal wedding has been broadcast on BBC radio.

Mr Bell, partner in a Coventry estate agency, paid £460 for the hire of a
Bentley and a Daimler, which would have cost an extra £100 on a Saturday.

A further £50 was saved on catering, and the wedding photographs, which could have cost up to £700 on a Saturday, came in at half that.

He said: ‘The whole thing is costing about £4,500, and I reckon it would
have been 25 per cent more expensive on a Saturday.’

And he added that the couple had also found a novel way to save money on the honeymoon: ‘We asked guests to give us travel vouchers rather than wedding gifts, and we’ll book the honeymoon tomorrow with whatever we’ve got.’