‘I DON’T!’: WEDDING GUESTS GET COLD FEET AMID COST OF LIVING CRISIS

New research reveals wedding invites are now a source of anxiety rather than excitement

• New data from leading flatshare site, SpareRoom, reveals one in four (27%) young people would rather miss out on a wedding, hen or stag do due to the financial anxiety caused by receiving an invite 
• The research also reveals that around a quarter (23%) think an invite to a wedding, hen or stag causes more stress and anxiety than excitement
• Just under a quarter (24%) of millennials and Gen Zs admit that the increased cost of living will impact their ability to attend weddings and hens/stags, both this year and next  
• One in five (20%) are anxious about falling out with a friend due to not being able to go to their wedding or hen/stag

Being invited to a wedding is traditionally a happy moment – a chance to share in a joyful day. However, because of the cost-of-living crisis and the increasing expense of attending someone’s special day, almost a quarter (23%) of young people now say a wedding, hen or stag invitation causes them more anxiety than excitement.

That’s according to new research from the UK’s leading flatshare site, SpareRoom, which also reveals that one in four (27%) Gen Zs and millennials would rather not be invited to a wedding, hen or stag do due to the financial worries that going would cause them. And with over a third (36%) of young people falling into debt or encountering financial difficulties as a result of attending wedding/hen stag, their reluctance amid a cost-of-living crisis is not surprising.

The research also revealed almost a third (29%) of people would not attend their cousins’ weddings due to costs, whilst just over one in ten (12%) would not attend their siblings’ weddings for the same reasons. Meanwhile, over half of people would turn down their colleagues (51%) and acquaintances (57%) due to money worries.

Just under a quarter (24%) of young people admit that the increased cost of living will impact whether they are able to attend a wedding and/or hen/stag both this year and next year. What’s more, for 20% of people their anxiety is being compounded by the prospect of falling out with a friend if they decline the invitation.

For Gen Zs and millennials, attending weddings, hens or stags causes additional pressures, with almost half (43%) claiming that this has impacted their ability to save to get onto the property ladder.

SpareRoom spokesperson, Miriam Tierney, comments: “As people enter their twenties and thirties, wedding invites become more common with many attending several in a year. And with the pandemic having delayed so many weddings, for some people the invites are coming thick and fast this year. When you factor in the added cost of going to the hen or stag do, travel to and from the wedding and accommodation, the costs soon add up.

 The fact that receiving an invitation to someone’s wedding has actually become a source of anxiety rather than joy for many is such a shame.”