What Is Wedding Insurance and What Does It Cover?
Why Wedding Insurance Matters
The average UK wedding now costs over 20,000 pounds according to research by Bridebook. With so much money tied up in deposits, suppliers, and non-refundable bookings, protecting your wedding day with insurance is a sensible precaution. Wedding insurance covers you against the financial consequences of unexpected events that force you to cancel, postpone, or modify your wedding.
What Wedding Insurance Covers
Cancellation and Rearrangement
The most important element. Covers irrecoverable costs if you have to cancel or postpone your wedding due to unforeseen circumstances such as: sudden illness or injury of the bride, groom, or immediate family, venue insolvency or fire damage, extreme weather preventing the wedding from proceeding, or bereavement of an immediate family member.
Supplier Failure
Covers deposits and payments lost if a supplier (caterer, florist, photographer, band, or venue) goes out of business before the wedding day.
Wedding Attire
Covers loss, theft, or damage to the wedding dress, suits, and wedding party outfits.
Wedding Gifts
Covers loss or damage to gifts received before or on the day.
Photography and Video
Covers the cost of reshoot if your photographer loses or damages the images and they cannot be recovered.
What Wedding Insurance Does Not Cover
- Cold feet - cancelling because you or your partner changed your mind
- Events booked before the policy start date if the risk was already foreseeable
- Claims related to a supplier's insolvency if they were known to be in financial difficulty
When to Buy and How Much It Costs
Buy wedding insurance as soon as you start paying deposits - cancellation cover is backdated to the policy start date, not the wedding date. Policies typically cost 60 to 200 pounds depending on the total value insured. Providers include John Lewis Finance, Debenhams Weddings, Dreamsaver, and WeddingPlan. Compare quotes via MoneySuperMarket and Confused.com.
