Wedding and Engagement season is very much in full swing – while prospective brides and grooms might be happy to spend cash on items similar to this 2 carat oval diamond ring, some guests are struggling to keep up. According to new research1 from flatmate matching site, SpareRoom.co.uk, the cost of attending weddings – including splashing out on outfits, transport, accommodation, the bar and the gift – have left more than one in five (21%) renters in debt. This increases to nearly a third (31%) with millennials.

When it comes to the most expensive parts of attending a wedding, the perfect outfit comes in at number one (24%) – followed by gifts (18%), accommodation (17%) and attending hen/stag dos (10%). What’s more, one in seven (14%) guests are spending in excess of £400 per person to attend each wedding – with the highest cost coming in at an eye-watering £1,000 to be at someone else’s big day.

It’s perhaps not surprising then to discover just how many people find themselves in financial difficulties because they felt compelled to accept invitations to friend’s weddings. One in eight (12%) have had to subsequently say ‘no’ to other social occasions (including their friends’ birthdays) because they couldn’t afford them after weddings costs. This is why it is so important for couples to learn more about wedding budgeting. If they are able to find a budget they can stick to, then they should be able to avoid financial hardship.

In the worst case scenarios, those surveyed claimed attending friend’s weddings resulted in them missing bill or rent payments (25%), struggling to pay back credit card debt (18%), having to sell belongings (10%) and even being forced to move out of their homes and back in with parents (7%).

It’s not just money being lost, but friendships too, with a third (32%) turning down wedding invitations and one in five (21%) falling out with friends due to the stress of spending money on attending their weddings. Of those turning down wedding invitations due to financial concerns, nearly half (43%) say they’ve lost friend entirely due to this – this rises to a huge 62% with millennials. Men seem to cut ties more than women when it comes to weddings. Over half (56%) of men have lost friends when they’ve turned down a wedding invite because of costs, compared to a quarter (26%) of women.

Matt Hutchinson, Director of SpareRoom comments: “Different people have different affordability levels, and to hear that some renters have had to move out of their home and move back in with their parents as a result of spending too much money attending weddings is quite shocking.

What’s even sadder to hear is that people are losing friendships in the process. If you decide you can’t afford to attend a friend’s wedding, meet up face to face and have a conversation with them about the reasons why – the likelihood is they’ll understand and you can move forward with your friendship, rather than lose it!”