Interesting Facts

According to research carried out by American Express, wedding guests in the UK spend around £640 each to attend nuptials. (Guests spent on average £114 on hotel accommodation, £112 on gifts and £105 on their outfit before they even factored in how they got there. On average it cost £96 to travel to the venue. Maybe we should just send the money to the happy couple.) 

According to a survey carried out by wedding website confetti.co.uk, Four fifths of British couples getting married this year will ask for cash instead of presents. (The reason that most of them don't want to create a wedding list, with the traditional toaster, or cutlery, is they have lived together and so already have the essentials. The problem is, asking for cash is an awkward thing to do, as unlike some cultures, in the UK there is no tradition of giving cash to the happy couple, and in the UK we hate talking about money.  However, according to the Guardian newspaper, those who feel awkward asking for cold hard cash, are increasingly using poetry to do it for them, with verses like:- "If you were thinking of giving a gift to help us on our way A gift of money in a card would really make our day!" Of course some lovely couples, who feel they have everything they need, ask people to give money to their favourite charity. (You know who you are.) Mayb...

According to a survey conducted by department store Debenhams, the average wedding guest in the UK spends £510 each time a family member or friend ties the knot. (The cost of celebrating a wedding as a guest breaks down into the following:- ITEM                           COST  Stag / Hen do               £150 Outfit                              £80 Drinks                             £80 Wedding present            £75 Accommodation              £65 Travel                             £60 TOTAL           ...

A Chinese bride walked down the aisle in a 2,162m long (7,083ft) gown in an attempt to break the world record. (The bride, Lin Rong, had her dress made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province. It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses.)

Twenty-three wedding cakes were made for Charles and Diana's wedding. (A large slice of cake made to celebrate the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles was sold for £1,000 at an auction house in Gloucestershire. I've got an old piece of my wedding cake somewhere, anyone interested=)

On the 8th of August, 2008, an estimated 9,000 couples will be married in China, where the number 8 is considered to be very lucky. (The number “8″ is considered very lucky in China, something about it sounding like part of the phrase “to get rich” in Mandarin. Although with the cost of weddings being such as they are, I doubt that any of the couples will be getting rich any time soon.) #IFUpdate - I wonder how they are all doing?

July 7, 2007 was considered the perfect date for a wedding. (7-7-7, besides looking good on the invitations, getting hitched on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year is considered lucky. The Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York offered a special July 7th wedding package. It featured a reception for 77, a seven-tier wedding cake, seven Tiffany diamonds for the bride, and a seven-night honeymoon at any Ritz in the world -- for $77,777. I just want to look at the figures in a few years, how many divorces, separations etc after the seven year itch? We'll just have to wait and see I guess.) Listen Here.