Weddings:

Photography: Jo Kemp - jo@jo-kempphotography.com

Spain is the second largest exporter of wedding dresses in the world. 

One in ten brides in the world chooses a dress designed in Spain, making this industry a powerful global player in Spanish export sector . Spain’s bridalwear industry has not only maintained its growth internationally, it has also been successful in commanding loyalty in the home market. Only China is ahead in global terms. 

The catalán market accunts for 44% of total sector exports.

 The volume of bridal fashion exports  - which includes party dresses, bride and groom’s wedding wear and accessories made 876,9 million euros in 2014, which means 22,4% growth over the previous year. The catalán market made 385.9m euros , a drop of 29.3% compared to 2013, ie 44% of the total. 

Source: latest data from the National Institute of  Statistics ,  INE

The number of weddings grew in 2014 

Very  slightly, but the figures point to an increase of 0.5% over the previous year. The regions where most marriages are registered are La Rioja, Murcia and Ceuta.

Age does indeed matter

The  average age at marriage has gone up significantly in the last few decades. The current average is 32.30  years. The catalans are the oldest to take the plunge – an average age of 33. 46 years… and those from Madrid, with an average of 34.11 years.

Average age by city

Andalucía: 32 years

Catalunya: 33 years

Madrid: 34 years

Civil weddings are on the increase. 

Civil weddings account for 71% of total weddings.  Among these 2.4% were between homosexual couples and only 26% were Catholic: rites and ceremonies from other religions are on the rise accounting for an estimated 3% of civil marriages. 

Types of ceremony

71 % civil - 2,4 % homosexual couples

26 % catholic

3 % other religions

As a matter of interest the number of people who never marry keeps rising: we only have data from the US , but trends grow, in 1960 only 10% of the population stayed single. These days the estimate is that more than 25% of those born in the ’90’s will never marry. The reason for this could form the subject of another investigation.

How much does an average wedding cost in Spain? 16,534 euros 

Source:  study by the Independent Consumer Association (FUCI) 

We haven’t researched to see if people marry for money; what is certain is that one does need enough cash to get married, because according to the 2014 figures, the average cost of a wedding with 100 guests was somewhere between 16,534 euros, moving between 11, 864 and 21, 205 euros. This figure is usually much higher, ranging from between 80,000 and 135,000 euros in the case of foreigners who come to Spain to get married, especially the English, North Americans and Russians. 

The wedding meal is the hardest part :  we estimate it to be more than half of expenses. The average price per guest ranges from between 75-100 euros, without adding the free bar which could raise the mínimum price per person to 90 euros. 

Another important part is the bridal couple’s wedding wear. Brides spend between 525 and 1650 euros on their dress, to which you have to add shoes, accessories, underwear for the occasion, hair, makeup and the wedding bouquet. Grooms  spend between 375 and 780 euros on their suits, but if they go for a big brand, the price could exceed 1,200 euros.

The Bride’s dress:  between 525euros and the Groom’s suit: between 375 and 1,200 euros

The wedding location also has an impact on the final bill: Madrid is the most expensive area to get married in , followed by Catalunya and Valencia. The cheapest regions to celebrate your big day in  are the Canary Islands and Extremadura. 

After so many numbers and statistics we’ve come to the conclusión that in order to marry what you need  is a little bit of a love and lots and lots of money.