Only one in four weddings  taking place this summer will be insured, despite around £20,000 splashed-out on the average ceremony.

According to Datamonitor, weddings peak over the summer with approximately 100,000 couples expected to tie the knot over the period. It estimates that 25,000 of these couples will take out insurance, generating a revenue stream of £1.5m for wedding insurance providers.
Sylvia Li, analyst at Datamonitor, said: “The average cost of a wedding is now in the region of £20,000. While everyone dreams of a perfect big day, things can go wrong. It is therefore prudent to consider taking out a wedding insurance policy to protect this hard earned money.
“Consumers are most concerned about their wedding being cancelled due to the illness of the bride, groom or close family members and this is the most common reason for taking out the cover. As well as this, photographers and limousine drivers who have been booked can also fall sick leaving the couples with problems on their big day.
“However wedding insurance covers couples against a wide range of additional problems including damage to the wedding dress or wedding rings, problems with suppliers of cakes and flowers and gifts and claims from people getting injured during the wedding. Wedding insurers also offer a range of extras for couples looking to extend their cover, the most popular of which is insurance for marquees and ceremonial swords cover.
“Providers offer an array of different levels of cover in this market, priced from a budget £20 up to £355 for those wanting the finest levels of cover. Consumers can therefore pick a policy that is tailored to their exact needs.”
Datamonitor estimates that 60,000 policies are currently sold each year and that this will rise to 90,000 by 2014.
Li said: “Wedding insurance is a growth area for insurance companies. The market has been around since the late 1990s and has been gaining in popularity as the cost of a wedding has increased and as more and more providers have entered the market making consumers more aware of it.”