(The results won't surprise you.)
It’s safe to say that the UK is wedding wild at the moment, with Pippa Middleton’s nuptials to James Matthews on the horizon. It’s clear that the couple, who will be married in St Mark’s Church on Saturday, will be throwing an extraordinary wedding with royalty, glass marquees and horse-drawn carriages abounding - but how will their ceremony compare to the average British wedding? A new study by STRIPPD surveyed 2,000 people to find out what a typical British bride goes through and it’s time to see how Pippa stacks up.
A quarter of Brits wouldn’t choose family as their maid of honour
While Kate Middleton chose Pippa as her maid of honour for her royal wedding, it’s predicted that Pippa probably won’t go the same route and it’s all down to tradition. As a married woman, etiquette dictates that Kate can’t be a bridesmaid and would instead be a matron of honour. However Prince George and Princess Charlotte have already been assigned bridal duties as a page boy and bridesmaid.
Whatever Pippa decides, if she chooses not to include Kate in her bridal party then it wouldn’t be totally out of the norm. One in four people agreed that they would rather have picked a friend over a relative and on top of that, a third of people queried also said that they wanted all eyes to be on them and not on someone else in the bridal party. (When your sister’s the Duchess of Cambridge, that could be a little difficult…)
1 in 10 people agree with Pippa’s no bling no bring policy
Planning a guest list is no small task and Pippa’s no bling no bring policy has attracted a lot of attention. While she’s waived the policy for Prince Harry’s sweetheart Meghan Markle, her beau’s brother Spencer Matthews reportedly won’t be able to bring his girlfriend Vogue Williams.
10% of people agreed with Pippa’s crackdown on guests, preferring to only invite friends or family members’ married halves.
Almost a third of women think losing weight is the most important prep before their big day
Pippa Middleton has always been pretty trim, but apparently she’s been taking to a bridal bootcamp at the women’s-only Grace Belgravia health club to tone up for her big day. The bridal membership package she’s supposedly signed up for includes yoga, pilates, dance and meditation classes as well as a tailored workout regime.
According to the survey, 31% of women thought shedding pounds was the most important thing to them prior to the wedding - over choosing a wedding cake (15%) or a first dance (10%). When pressed further, it turns out that people were aiming to lose 10.2lbs on average with 44% saying that they wanted to look good for photographs, while 33% were anxious knowing that people would be looking at them all day.
15% of brides said choosing their dress was the most stressful part of their wedding
While there’s no real word on what Pippa will be wearing tomorrow, rumours have been circulating that she’s had her wedding dress tailored five times. It’s also been said to be the work of a British designer and according to E! News, it’s ‘very simple, elegant’. Add the fact that the Middletons and royal family appear to be keeping her dress an incredibly guarded secret and it’s safe to say that the whole process sounds like a stressful one.
She’s not alone in that regard, 15% of brides said picking the perfect gown was the most stressful part of their experience. With celebrity gowns circulating in the media (who could forget Kate Middleton’s romantic Alexander McQueen?), it’s no surprise that there’s more pressure to choose the right dress.
The average wedding costs around £15,000
Pippa Middleton’s wedding really doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a cheap affair, especially since it’s been revealed that a £100,000 glass conservatory is being installed on her family’s Bucklebury estate. Bridebook crunched some numbers and predicted that her wedding could cost a whopping £246,949, which is more than 16 times the national average. According to wedding experts Georgie Fowle and Katie Tottenham from Addo Events, there are a few hidden costs Pippa will have to think about as well.
‘A society wedding like Pippa’s will have added expenses, such as the need for security which will not be cheap. It is quite possible that all guests will be treated to travel and accommodation for the weekend, which is a lovely touch if the budget allows,’ they said.
Based on their experience, a typical UK wedding costs roughly £15,000 with things like the venue, catering and clothing eating into the budget. While Pippa may have chosen to have her reception at home, Georgie and Katie have said that many brides would choose to have their wedding not at home, but at a venue such as a country house hotel.
