With the average cost of a British wedding coming in at just over £20,000 in already difficult economic conditions a UK Gift List company reports that couples are now inviting guests to help pay for the wedding day itself rather buying a traditional gift. With the 2014 wedding planning cycle under way there is evidence that many UK couples may be delaying their wedding perhaps indefinitely because they don’t believe they can afford it and they fear beginning their married life by taking on potentially crippling wedding debt. Debt Advisory Centre figures show that 17% of married UK couples (5 million) borrowed money to pay for their wedding day, 10% of couples borrowed over £10,000, and one in three couples are still paying back wedding-day debt, rather than having the financial freedom to plan for their future UK gift list company www.JusttheThing.co.uk reports that couples are opting to have guests contribute something towards making their special day a reality rather than buying traditional boxed gifts. Says JusttheThing.co.uk gift list manager Michelle Bernhardi-Toner explains: “Thousands of couples are being forced to delay their wedding plans through no fault of their own. Weddings and civil partnerships have become a luxury in an economy rife with redundancy, pay freezes, staff cuts and zero-hour employment contracts. Many couples have already set up home together and don’t need the traditional housewares their parents once registered for. Yet, ironically, they don’t have the funds for an actual wedding day. Michelle explains why a Wedding Day Gift List is fast becoming an essential “Debt causes stress and unhappiness. No one wants to start married life in debt. This a simple and practical way to help couples tie the knot without incurring crippling debt in the process. The Wedding Day Gift List really started out as an easy payment solution for family wanting to help out with the costs of the Big Day. We quickly found however that more than just the parents of the bride and groom wanted to contribute. The wedding party, friends and extended family all wanted to help out with wedding day plans & expenses in some way. What better gift could you give loved ones than actually helping to put their best foot forward in their future lives together and helping to make their dream of becoming happily married a reality?” Friends & family simply pop online to the couple’s wedding website http://justthething.co.uk & gift list to contribute as little or as much as they wish towards the big day. Everything from the bride’s bouquet to the evening entertainment can be ‘gifted’ by loved ones wanting to make a couple’s wedding day dreams come true. Gift list items range in price from a modest £2.00 for bird-friendly confetti to £450 for a spectacular wedding cake. It’s just like crowd sourcing your wedding day, except it’s your crowd; your friends and family. In addition to their hot new Wedding Day Gift List package, www.JusttheThing also helps couples to register for hundreds of other practical wedding gifts from honeymoons to home deposits, department store luxuries or even ‘new baby’ & ‘further study’ funds. Source: sourcewire