The most popular destinations for those key romantic moments

NerdWallet have surveyed over 1,000 recently married Britons to reveal the dream locations for a proposal, wedding and honeymoon. This was part of a wider campaign to reveal how much it ‘costs to be in love’ in the UK. 

They found: 

The top 5 dream proposal locations in the UK

• The Lake District
• Cornwall
• The Scottish Highlands
• Edinburgh
• The Cotswolds

The top 5 dream proposal locations worldwide

• New York, USA
• Florence, Italy
• Paris, France
• Santorini, Greece
• Bali, Indonesia

The top 5 dream wedding locations in the UK

• St Ives, Cornwall, 
• Isle of Skye, Scotland
• Edinburgh, Scotland
• The Cotswolds
• London

Respondents also revealed their dream wedding locations outside the UK, which include the Amalfi Coast in Italy; Maui, Hawaii; Bali Indonesia, as well as Florida and New York in the United States.

The the top five destinations in the world for a honeymoon

• Maldives
• Maui, Hawaii
• Santorini, Greece
• Puglia, Italy
• Kyoto, Japan

Traditionally, an engagement ring is meant to be worth the equivalent of a three-month salary, however, this is a thing of the past, with nearly 60% admitting that their ring cost less than that and the average ring costing £1,394. So which cities are spending the most on a ring?

• Edinburgh – £2,588
• London – £1,907
• Liverpool – £1,719
• Glasgow – £1,694
• Cardiff – £1,670

Two of Scotland’s biggest cities sit in the top five spending the most on an engagement ring, with Edinburgh spending over £600 more than any other city. Sheffield spends the least at just £794.

For the big day itself, Londoners take the crown, splashing the most on their wedding at an average of £9,680. Birmingham ranks second spending £8,200 and Belfast at £8,184. Brighton spends the least on the big day, at £5,618. 

The most popular destinations for those key romantic moments
Unfortunately, many wedding plans were impacted by COVID-19 this year. But the UK is home to some romantic spots, which are still perfect for a gesture of love. We asked people across the country what their ultimate destination and UK-based location would be for the following milestones:

Whilst it may not be the Maldives, which is the UK’s top honeymoon destination of choice, spending an average of £3,156, the UK can offer an affordable and picturesque alternative. 

So, how much does being in love cost you?

NerdWallet comments: “Being in love can be more costly than you think, with people in a relationship looking to celebrate these major moments and needing to save over £10,000 on average to fund them all as a result. Having said this, these costs are often spread out across a number of years, and there are many ways to help finance them, from help from friends and family, to taking out a personal loan. With so many individuals looking at what the right amount is to spend, this research provides a great guideline to find out what other people across the country are doing.”