For any business it’s necessary to keep abreast of what’s going on in its industry, which is why the 2019 UK Wedding Report has had our attention recently.

This invaluable report comes from Bridebook.co.uk, the UK’s number 1 wedding planning app. The report is based on over 2000 respondents who got married in 2018, and 90% of the respondents were Brides

2019 Trends

“We’re seeing that millennials view weddings as a big party with unique experiences, personal touches and beautiful photo backdrops. They’re planning on their phones, jointly together, and they’re cutting costs wherever possible. We expect to see planning become more digital and social in the near term with increased personality woven throughout the wedding activities. Wedding venues and suppliers are encouraged to show off their unique offerings to reach those looking for something ‘different’.” – Hamish Shephard, Founder of Bridebook.co.uk

The last sentence is good news for us as Betty, our London Taxi Wedding Car, is definitely a unique offering, as she’s the only one of her kind in the region!

Hamish also states that couples are cutting costs wherever possible, and with the UK average wedding spend being £17,674 (in London £24k), that’s probably a wise move. Here in the East Midlands the average wedding cost is the lowest in the UK at just £14,456, but it’s still a lot of money!

The East Midlands accounts for 13% of all UK weddings, which is the highest percentage for any region outside of the South East and South West. It’s a pretty large area, even if not densely populated, and we’ve been involved with weddings in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Lincolnshire, plus quite a few into the West Midlands too!

We do what we can to account for operating in the digital age, and Social Media is a very important tool for us, with many of our bookings coming from our Social Media sites, especially Facebook. For 76% of respondents, email was the most favoured means of communicating with suppliers, and only 11% chose the phone.

Relevant to our business, average cost for wedding transport comes out at £491 nationally, and £410 for the East Midlands. Some weddings have more than one wedding car and sometimes minibuses too, which bumps it up over the average cost of a single vehicle. Our standard price range is very typical for the region.

It’s interesting to note that in the report, the decision making on wedding transport is down to the Bride on 36% of occasions, by the Groom on 20%, and by both on 28%. This is interesting for us, as over 80% of our enquiries come from the Bride.

“What can I say about Andy & Betty …Only good things. I fell in love with Betty when I saw her for the first time at a wedding fair and after speaking to Andy I was confident they would be perfect and just what I wanted. Andy’s attention to detail was fabulous, everything timed to perfection and prepared for every eventuality. Betty was a huge part of our special day and I highly recommend their service. I wish them every success.” (Hannah Stevenitt, West Bridgford)

The fact that we have 100% 5 star reviews is wonderful for our ego, but also important, as the report states that 62% of those asked, said that reviews of suppliers was the most important factor when making their decision. 54% of couples read up to 6 reviews, and 29% read over 10 reviews before booking their suppliers. Reviews really are like gold dust to small companies!

A factor that is very relevant for wedding car companies, is that more and more couples are having their ceremony and reception at the same venue. In fact 67% do now, with only 23% having their ceremony at a place of worship, and 5% at a Register Office/Town Hall.

The reason this is so significant for wedding car companies, is that not only is the job getting smaller, but in many case the Bride will stay at the venue the night before the ceremony and won’t need transport.

There’s a rise in transport for the Groom though, and we’ve been hired for just this on quite a few occasions. In fact that was the case in our very first wedding, and in every case where we’ve just transported the Groom and his party, it’s been booked as a surprise for him. So far they’ve all approved!

We’re now back to the report for more nuggets of information…

For more about us and our services, please visit us here