Nearly 50% of brides under the age of 35 years are still set to spend a minimum of £1,500 on a wedding dress for their wedding.

Mintel, the market analysts have just released figures showing that the bridal wear market is estimated to be worth £128 million which is an increase of 21% across the 5 years between 2003 - 2008.

Mintel also predict that even despite the economic crisis, the sales of wedding dresses will continue to grow as Britain’s brides will not compromise on cost.

Mintel predict that by 2013 brides will be splashing over £153 million on wedding dresses alone which will be an increase of 20% from todays spend.

Since 2004, the number of marriages has dropped by 1.8% to 263,000 in 2008.

Senior Fashion Analyst at Mintel, Katrin Magnussen said: “Over the years, women have become more and more extravagant with their choice of bridalwear. Buying the wedding dress is often seen as a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and is invariably an emotional event. With this in mind, it is very unlikely we will see brides prepared to sacrifice that perfect dress in light of a tighter budget. In their eyes, there will always be other areas where money can be saved.”

Susanne Turner, a market researcher in Surrey is getting married in April 2009 and has confirmed that most brides cared more about their dress and how they look on the big day rather than the cost.

She said: “I saw my dream dress in a magazine. It was an Essence of Australia dress and did not give me much change out of £1,000. I had sort of set myself a budget, but that went out the window when I saw this one.”

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