The UK’s wedding industry has experienced its first recorded decline in active businesses, signalling a notable shift after years of sustained growth. Analysis by international business database company companydata.com reveals that, for the first time since 2010, the number of wedding planners has decreased.
Currently, the UK hosts 6,720 wedding-related enterprises, comprising 2,990 wedding planners and 3,730 bridal shops. So far this year, the number of wedding planners has fallen by 150, nearly a 5% reduction, while bridal retail outlets have not seen any growth.
This downturn contrasts sharply with the boom period from 2010 to 2025, during which the wedding trade more than tripled-from 2,183 to 6,870 businesses. Wedding planning firms alone increased 3.6-fold, from 871 to 3,140. However, growth has steadily slowed over the past seven years.
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The sector’s peak year was 2018, with a net addition of 675 new businesses, but by 2025 this figure dropped dramatically to just 34, a 95% decrease. The growth trend closely reflects national sentiment, with spikes coinciding with Britain’s royal weddings.
In 2011, following Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage, wedding businesses rose by 578, including the highest single-year increase of 331 bridal shops. This record was surpassed in 2018, the year of Harry and Meghan’s wedding at Windsor, which saw 329 new wedding planners and 346 new bridal shops added, totalling 675 new ventures.
Since then, net growth has declined annually: 230 in 2019, 162 in 2020, 125 in 2021, 123 in 2022, 112 in 2023, 85 in 2024, and 34 in 2025.
Separately, marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales dropped 8.6% in 2023 to 231,949, continuing a long-term decline dating back to the 1970s, according to the Office for National Statistics. Despite fewer weddings, the average couple’s spending remains around £21,000 to £22,000, though with reduced guest numbers.
Average wedding guest lists now hover around 80 people, an 11% decrease compared to 2024. Over half of couples (56%) reported exceeding their budgets last year despite trimming their guest lists.
The bridal retail sector has been particularly affected. Between 2010 and 2018, bridal shop numbers grew annually by an average of 256. However, since 2021, this growth has slowed to around 40 new shops per year, with no gains reported in 2026.
This trend mirrors wider challenges faced by British high streets. In 2024, 11,341 independent shops closed across the UK, a 46% increase from the previous year, according to the Centre for Retail Research. Several well-established bridal boutiques have announced closing-down sales this year.
Despite the slowdown, the UK remains Europe’s bridal capital with 3,730 bridalwear retailers-almost double that of Germany (1,961)-and significantly outnumbering Italy (1,452), France (1,218), and Spain (415). Only the United States has a larger market with 8,540 bridalwear outlets.
Teun Ebbes, a retail data expert at companydata.com, commented, “For 15 years, the UK wedding trade experienced only growth. What we’re witnessing now is not a collapse but a market reaching saturation as fewer customers marry and those who do are spending more cautiously. Existing businesses are sustaining themselves, but fewer new entrants are emerging.”