Around 121,197 couples get married in Australia each year and each of those couples is unique in who they are, how they met, what they believe in and what their reason for marrying is. However, when you look at the overall data as we did in Easy Wedding‘s 2016 Annual Australian Wedding Survey, a picture of the ‘average’ Australian bride and groom emerges.
Introducing Mr and Mrs Average Wedding Couple
The average Australian bride is 28 years old on her wedding day. Her groom is just a year older at 29 and they have been engaged for 23 months. That’s a long time to think about who you are going to choose to supply services such as photography or wedding dresses or bonboniere for your wedding day.
While 89% of brides are aged 35 years or under when they marry, just 72% of grooms are aged 35 on their wedding day and, though it is most likely they met through friends (35%), it’s almost just as likely that they met at work, school or university (29%). What’s the lesson for anyone looking to find their match? Start socialising more with your existing friends and always turn up to work and school!
They support same sex marriage
The Australian bride and groom are all about inclusivity with 89% of them believing same sex marriage should be legalised in Australia – a figure that is up 4% from the same time last year.
98% of the brides will have attended between 1 and 5 weddings in the 12 months before her wedding day, so she’ll likely have an idea of what she wants and likes by the time she visits a wedding supplier. It also means she might see wedding suppliers she likes and hire them for her own wedding. That’s brilliant free advertising for your business.
How many guests are Aussie couples inviting?
When planning their own wedding, the average Australian bride and groom will invite 98 guests. That’s down 2.4% from last year’s results. 89% of them will hold their wedding in their home state or territory and 78% of all couples will have either a gift registry or a wishing well.
This leads us into our data around wedding gifts. Of the 2300 plus couples who answered our survey 88% of them said they believed a wedding gift of up to $250 was appropriate for close friends and family, while 60% considered a gift of about $100 as being appropriate for other people whose weddings they are invited to.
How large is the bridal party?
Including themselves, 49% of couples will have between 7 and 10 people in their bridal party and 30% of couples will already be parents (or pregnant) on their wedding day.
And what happens after the wedding?
And what are their priorities after their wedding is over? It’s starting a family (33%), buying a home (30%), travelling (14%), focusing on their career (9%) and improving their education (2%) but 12% listed ‘other’ as their post-wedding priority.
All Easy Weddings suppliers will receive the full survey results in the mail.
