Yahoo News How much Pippa Middleton's wedding could cost
With the average wedding in the UK costing £16,842 in 2017, how much would you expect the nuptials of party planner (and sister to the Duchess of Cambridge) Pippa Middleton and hedge fund manager James Matthews to cost?
If you guessed somewhere around the £250 THOUSAND mark, you may just be right.
Leading wedding planning website and app Bridebook.co.uk has put together a budget for Pippa's big day based on an analysis of over 170,000 weddings and a review of over 70,000 wedding industry suppliers’ price estimates.
And the figure stands at £246,949. Yes. Really.
If you're wondering how on earth anyone goes about spending quarter of a million pounds on a wedding, thankfully Bridebook has done the breakdown for us.
Here's how it all tots up...
Venue - £65,000
'But the reception is taking place at the Middleton family home!', I hear you cry. While getting wed in your parents' back garden might seem like a way to save cash, when you have 350 guests to seat for dinner somewhere under cover, things can get expensive very quickly. According to Bridebook, a super-sized luxury marquee for 350 people will start at £25,000 but the pair are likely to need another tent for the drinks reception, as well as one for the caterers.
Catering - £75,000
Bridebook predicted that wedding caterers The Admirable Crichton, who happen to hold a Royal Warrant, would be on the job for Pippa's day. Guests will eat around 2,000 canapés (there are 350 people, remember) and the caterers will need 15 chefs and even more waiters to ensure seamless service. All this, plus linen, tableware and the sit-down dinner will cost approximately £200 a guest.
Dress - £10,000
All eyes are always on the bride's choice of wedding dress but even more so for Pippa who experienced first-hand the power of a pretty dress on her sister's wedding to Prince William. Giles Deacon was the designer of the bespoke dress and that could have set Pippa back 10 whole Ks.
Drinks – £17,720
Yep. Pippa's drinks alone could cost more than the average UK wedding. But that's probably because prosecco is a banned word in the Middleton house and only Champagne will be served. An estimate of 233 bottles of Champagne (£9,320) as well as fine wines at dinner and an open bar during the party could rack up to just shy of £18,000.
Photography and videography – £7,500
If Pippa and James opt for the same wedding photographer as Kate and Wills, it could set them back a fair few bob (£3,500) which doesn't include the extra for a separate videographer.
Cake – £2,600
WHO KNEW CAKE COULD COST THIS MUCH. Minds - blown. Still, it does have to feed 350 people so we're guessing a Colin from M&S wouldn't have cut it.
Stationary – £5,125
Bridebook have their sneaking suspicions that Pippa is using Mount Street Printers for her invites, which could cost around £11 per guest. Throw in the cost of menus, save-the-dates and orders of service and you can quickly see how this sky rockets.
And that's not all! Once you add in the price of music and entertainment (£8,250), wedding rings (£19,000), outfits for the rest of the bridal party (£10,000), veil (£2,000), hair and makeup (£1,500), decorations (£6,000) and toilets (£4,000), as well as wedding favours, church fees and transport - you can see how the figure starts to make sense.
If all this talk of £££ is putting you off ever getting married, just remember that things don't have to cost so much.
Hamish Shephard, founder of Bridebook.co.uk said: “Weddings have become increasingly lavish over recent years mainly due to couples getting married when they are older, and hence being able to spend more, and social media raising everyone’s expectations of a wedding.
"Couples don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands to have an incredible day, today’s savvy couples find ways to save on average £10,147 on their big day so get very happily married without breaking the bank. With the month of May being outside the expensive peak summer wedding months, even Pippa and James will have likely had some discounts from their suppliers. ”
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