Of course, it’s not just the couple who have decisions to make as the wedding approaches, with those attending as guests needing to make some pretty crucial choices in the lead up to the big day, with some having obligations as well…
How much should you spend on a wedding gift?
Although what to get the happy couple can be covered by a registry, taking away one of the biggest worries about gift giving, how much to spend on a wedding present can be a difficult conundrum.
When it comes to someone you’re close to, the median Briton sees around £76 to £100 as the right amount to spend on a nuptial gift, though with 36% of the public feeling a lower amount is reasonable, including 21% who don’t feel it’s right to go above £50 for a present. By contrast, 30% are willing to push the boat out beyond £100.
The consensus is considerably lower when the question turns to a couple you’re less close to. For such gifts, the median ‘right’ spend for Britons is somewhere between £26 to £50, though with roughly a third (32%) believing even this is too much. A mere 7% of the public think the £76-100 bracket or higher is a reasonable amount to spend on such a gift.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who are better off are happier to fork out for wedding gifts, with 41% of those with household incomes over £70,000 thinking the right amount to spend on a present for someone you are very close to is more than £100, relative to 22% of those who live in homes with an income of less than £25,000.
Which guests should give a wedding speech, and for how long?
Some guests also have major parts to play on the big day itself, with the best man and the father of the bride traditionally giving speeches at the wedding reception, alongside the groom.
Although wedding speeches are often regarded as tricky to perfect, most punters are happy for the traditional trio of speeches to continue, with around seven in ten Britons (68-72%) feeling that the best man and groom should typically give speeches at the wedding reception, alongside 63% backing a speech from the father of the bride.
But there’s some appetite for other people to give speeches at the reception as well, with the public tending to believe the father of the groom should also give a speech (by a margin of 42% to 29%), while 38% of Britons feel the bride should get to reply to the groom’s speech, even if 32% think she shouldn’t give a speech.
Fewer want to hear a speech from the maid of honour, though a third of people (32%) feel she should give a speech, against a greater 38% who feel such a speech would be unnecessary.
Interest in hearing the speeches of the groom, best man and father of the bride is reasonably consistent across the generations, but younger Britons are much more open to the key women of the wedding giving speeches too.
A small majority of 18-34 year olds (53-54%) think that the bride and maid of honour should address the guests at the reception, relative to 34-36% of 35-54 year olds and as few as 17% of over 55s.
Both men and women are equally likely to believe that the maid of honour should deliver a speech (32%), while men are slightly more open to hearing the bride tell all than women (41% vs 35%).
Perhaps the bigger question with wedding speeches, though, is how long they should last. After all, many a wedding guest can recall having to sit through a lengthy monologue that could have done with an editor.
Overall, the median Briton feels that each wedding speech should typically take around three to four minutes, with this also being the ideal duration for 42% of Britons. A fifth (20%) would like a shorter and sweeter speech of two minutes or less, while 24% are prepared to sit through a speech lasting five or six minutes. A mere 7% of Britons think it’s reasonable for a speech to go on longer than this.
What are the top wedding faux pas that guests should avoid?
Delivering an overly long speech is not the only faux pas that wedding guests should look at avoid. Giving a speech that no one asked for is an even bigger gaffe, with 73% of Britons seeing this as unacceptable.
Turning up in a white dress has also been seen as a serious misstep that risks overshadowing the bride, and indeed 64% of the public feel this is wrong for a wedding guest to do.
Other behaviours that can end up as a major faux pas include jokingly raising an objection to the couple being married (seen as unacceptable by 83% of Britons), proposing to your partner at the wedding (75%) and getting noticeably drunk (73%).
Where things are not so black and white is wearing a black dress, which comes closest to dividing Britons, though with nearly half (48%) feeling it’s perfectly acceptable for a guest to don a black number, relative to just 39% feeling the traditionally funereal colour should be off limits for women at weddings.
Women are notably more likely than men to pick up on these potential wedding slip-ups, with this particularly the case when it comes to wearing a white dress as a guest, which 78% of women see as unacceptable, compared to 51% of men.
This pattern can also be seen on guests proposing to their partners at the wedding (82% vs 66%), guests getting noticeably drunk (75% vs 66%), people giving unscheduled speeches (76% vs 69%), and people jokingly objecting to the couple being married (87% vs 77%).
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Photo: Getty