The amount of money Irish couples spend on their wedding day will always differ depending on their preferences.

However, a new survey by weddingsonline can now reveal that the average amount spent is €24,427, which is up 8% on last year.

The figure includes the price of the honeymoon and was based on over 2,000 participants who were questioned in January 2017.

Half of the couples surveyed admitted to going over budget, 17% look to take out a loan to help cover the cost and 21% admit that they shared the costs with their parents.

Religious weddings are still the most popular type of wedding ceremony (70%) but humanist weddings are on the rise, up 30% on last year (13% of weddings).

Civil ceremonies also remain popular with 17% of couples opting for this style of ceremony.

Friday and Saturday weddings are equally popular this year with Friday weddings on the rise in general.

The summer months are still the most popular time to tie the knot with July and August topping the polls (12.6% each) followed by September (11.8%) and June (11.5%).

December is still the most popular month for engagements (24%) with over 25% of engaged couples waiting more than 2 years to get married.

On average, couples invite 159 guests to their big day and 26% opt for a bigger celebration with over 200 guests.

The average price per guest for a meal is €66 (a 7.5% increase on last year) and 24.5% of couples spend over €80.

50% of the couples surveyed went over budget with 15% spending over 5K more than they had planned.

The average age for brides tying the knot is 31 years of age while the groom’s average age is 33 years of age.

Wedding spend is on the rise across the board with couples splurging 26% more than last year on their band, 9% more on their venue and 8% more on a photographer.

The hotel venue is still the most popular choice (66%), followed by the country house (20%) and then castle (9%).

There’s a large increase in the number of people having their speeches before the meal (40%).

30% opt to have them after the meal, 25% have them in between courses while 5% opt to have no speeches at all.

6% of surveyed couples got married abroad – 43% considered a destination wedding but preferred to get hitched at home instead.

91% of couples honeymoon abroad with 56% waiting a few months after the wedding before they head off on their holiday of a lifetime.

53% of couples opt for a mini-moon in Ireland directly after the wedding (21% increase on last year).

The average cost of a honeymoon is €5,028 (up 6% on last year) and the most popular honeymoon destinations are the United States, the Maldives and Italy.

Social media and online platforms continue to play an important part in the planning process for modern brides and grooms.

72% of couples use Pinterest and 70% use Facebook to help them plan their wedding. There’s also a rise in popularity for social media channels Instagram (32%) and Snapchat (5%).

Some of the regrets expressed by the surveyed couples included not booking a videographer, listening to other people’s opinions too much, bringing too many people dress shopping and not wearing comfy shoes!