Covid-related wedding costs to budget for in 2021

July 13, 2021

Covering the costs of a wedding can be tricky to manage and get right — especially during ongoing Covid times. That’s why we’re breaking down all the extra costs you’ll need to consider plus how a Monese joint account can benefit you and your loved one when planning for your special day.

How much do weddings cost?

Covid-19 safety rules are set to change on 19 July, meaning that big weddings can finally take place once again in England, and venues are no longer required to enforce safety rules and provide hand gel and other precautionary supplies.

Many brides and grooms with a wedding on the horizon are expected to introduce their own safety measures to their big day, even after all official restrictions are lifted, to help ensure the good health and safety of guests in attendance and allow any friends and family members to join the celebrations worry-free.

Weddings are already expensive with the average cost in the UK already totalling more (£30,000¹) than a typical annual salary ². With brides and grooms now responsible for implementing their own Covid-safety measures to protect their guests, this could add more than £5,000 (£5,305)* to the total cost of their wedding day, increasing the average budget by almost a fifth (18%) ¹, according to a new study.

From lateral flow tests to temperature checks, hand sanitiser stations to disposable masks, and the average number of wedding guests sitting at 78 in 2020³, costs for these additions can soon add up for couples opting to absorb these costs within their own wedding day budgets. We’ve calculated the average cost of each optional safety measure that brides and grooms-to-be may now have to think about, and budget for in 2021 and beyond when planning their big day.

Lateral flow tests — from £64 for a pack of 72⁴

Although they’re not as accurate as a PCR test, lateral flow tests can show if someone is infectious with Covid-19 at that particular time. This means they can be taken in the lead up to and on the day of the wedding by guests, to help identify if they may need to go and get a PCR test and self-isolate.

As mentioned, these are not 100% accurate, but they could be sent out to guests to use ahead of the wedding for additional peace of mind.

PCR testing — from £65 at home / £99 in store⁵

More accurate than a lateral flow test, the 48-hour PCR test is being used as proof of a negative Covid test for those looking to travel in 2021. That said, they do come at a cost, so for those looking to test all guests ahead of your wedding day, budgeting is key as these may add up to a hefty amount depending on the size of the wedding party.

Covid testing thermometers — from £12 per unit⁶

Another option is to check the temperature of guests before they enter the wedding ceremony or venue. Thermometers for this purpose are relatively inexpensive, but remember to allow for additional time to test, especially for larger wedding parties.

Hand sanitiser — from £20 for a pack of 24 (50ml)⁷

Why not incorporate hand sanitiser as part of the table favours? Small bottles can be picked up relatively cheaply and can be scattered across tables for each of the guests to use throughout the day.

Disposable face masks — from £14.99 for 200⁸

Most people are now carrying around a mask without even giving it a second thought, and whilst they’re not always going to be a legal requirement, masks have been reported to help stop the spread of Covid and may be something couples wish to incorporate for at least a small part of their wedding.

Set money aside and budget with a Monese joint account

Along with these extra costs, you’ll also have to budget for the usual venue costs, catering, reception, honeymoon costs, makeup, the wedding dress and suit, accessories, shoes, ceremony fees, cake, bar, entertainment, transportation, insurance and plenty more. That’s why having up to 10 dedicated Monese money pots set up in your joint account to help you save and work towards each goal is so important — and you avoid going into any debt!

For example, say you have a dream dress that costs £3,000. With Monese, you can easily set up £3,000 as the target for your “Wedding dress 👰🏻‍♀️” pot and monitor your progress as you add to it and watch it grow!

To reach your targets even faster, you can choose to round up daily transactions by up to 10x and send the difference directly to a chosen pot. Having pots also helps to keep your wedding money separate from daily spending. And you can easily set up Recurring Payments to your pot to automate how much you’re putting away.

With a Monese joint account, you and your partner can also agree on a set budget for your wedding expenses. Easily set up a monthly and weekly budget as you lead up to your big day. Stay on track and in the loop together with the Spending Overview feature in your app.

A joint account also makes it simple for guests to gift you money on your special day. You can easily copy and share your account details with your friends and loved ones straight from your app for an easy and smooth process for all! Plus, this way you’re able to keep track of who sent you a little something so you remember to send a thank you card later.

Send money abroad and travel with a Monese joint account

Along with budgeting for additional Covid-related travel costs and safety measures as mentioned above, planning a destination wedding or even your honeymoon also means dealing with foreign vendors and paying them in foreign currency. With a Monese joint account, you can easily send money abroad to pay vendors at a great currency exchange rate.

And when you finally go on your honeymoon, your Monese card is the only travel card you’ll need on your romantic getaway! You’ll have instant access to your cash worldwide by withdrawing at any ATM at the wholesale currency exchange rate. Plus, you can spend abroad with your card and always count on the wholesale exchange rate without ever having to worry about hidden fees.

The benefits of a Monese joint account after your wedding

You can use your Monese joint account well after the wedding and honeymoon are over. In fact, this is just the beginning! There are many benefits to having a Monese joint account for married couples:

Easily work towards future goals together like buying a house
Manage household bills and expenses together
Set up a weekly or monthly budget together
Keep track of joint transactions with instant notifications
Get both of your salaries paid into your joint account for easier money management
Quickly set up Direct Debits or Recurring Payments to stay on top of shared payments

Best of all, opening a Monese joint account is free! You just pay the card delivery fee: €/£4.95.

Will you be opening a joint account to help with your wedding day planning? Or if you’ve used a joint account for your wedding plans, let us know how it was useful for you! Leave us a comment on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or drop us a line at community@monese.com.

*Data around the additional costs associated with a more covid safe wedding were totalled based on 78 guests calculated against the below which were correct as of 10/7/2021:

2 x packs of tests based on: Lateral flow tests — from £64 for a pack of 72⁴
78 x at-home tests based on: PCR testing — from £65 at home / £99 in store⁵
1 x unit based on: Covid testing thermometers — from £12 per Unit⁶
4 x packs of: Hand sanitiser — from £20 for a pack of 24 (50ml)⁷
1 x pack of: disposable face masks — from £14.99 for 200⁸

Total: £5,304.99

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Finding the right Monese plan for you

Some of our plans are getting a tune up - here’s all you need to know

If your plan is impacted by this change, you can find more information below. For a full rundown of our terms, please click here.

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At Monese, we are committed to delivering the best possible banking alternative, so that anyone across the UK and Europe can better manage their money, digitally.

So, we’re making improvements to our plans to better tailor them to our customers' everyday needs. These changes will include updates to transfer limits, adjustments to fees, and tweaks to our free plan.

As a part of this, we are enhancing our Classic plan to include our new Cashback offering. We are also introducing a new plan called Everyday, designed for those on our free plan who are looking to start using their Monese card more often. All our plans have a bunch of great ways to spend, send, and save your money - with options tailored for every need.

With these updates, we are confident that everyone will be able to find a plan that is right for them, and help them build a brighter financial future.

Read more below for some of our most commonly asked questions, and a full schedule of changes at the bottom.

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What are the main changes?

Monese plans now have four tiers: Pay As You Go, Everyday, Cashback, and Premium, so that you can find the right plan for your needs.

For our current Simple users, the main update is just a simple name change, and slight updates to domestic transfer fees. We’re also making virtual cards free on all plans so that you can connect your account to your Apple or Google Wallet.

For Classic users, you will start to see us refer to your plan as Cashback. We also have an exciting new way to help you save. You can read more below on changes to your particular plan.

We are also introducing a new tier, Everyday, designed for those using their Monese card regularly, rather than occasionally.

This means that there are more options for more people using Monese around the world.

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Why are we making these changes?
We’re all about making sure we deliver the best tools for you to manage your money, and based on how people are using Monese currently, we noticed that we needed to create some new options for our customers.

It’s especially important that we provide an Everyday plan for customers who feel that £7.95 per month is a bit of a stretch, but want to start using Monese more regularly.

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What is a Pay As You Go plan?

Pay As You Go does what it says on the tin. Previously known as the Simple plan, our Pay As You Go plan allows you to access Monese without a monthly fee. This allows customers starting out on Monese to get familiar with the app, and only pay for what they use. This plan is perfect for someone using their Monese card sporadically, or looking to explore their options in the app.

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What is included in the Everyday plan?

Our new Everyday plan has everything you need to get you started on your journey to a brighter financial future with Monese. This plan is designed to be a low cost, low commitment option for those looking to save on transfer limits, deposit fees and virtual cards - perfect for those always on the go. Everyday will also include Partner Cashback.

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What is the Cashback plan and why has my Classic plan changed?

For our Classic users, there won’t be a huge amount of change, aside from the inclusion of Cashback, a new way to earn as you spend every month, among other changes to:

FX and international transfer fees
Free transfer out limits
Cash top up limits

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You can read more in our schedule of changes below.

Plus, with Enhanced Cashback, you can earn up to £2.50 per month on your everyday spend. This is on top of being able to access our regular partner Cashback.

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Will my Premium plan be changing?

For our current Premium plan users, nothing is changing. This is still the best plan for those using Monese as their primary account.

See below for the full details of what is changing in every plan

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Pay As You Go (previously Simple)

Monthly domestic transfers out (limit): Previously £1 per transfer, Now £1.29 per transfer

Debit Card Top Up Fee (%): Previously 1%, Now 2%

Card spend Abroad FX (%): Previously 2%, Now 3%

Virtual card order fee: Previously £0.30, Now Free

Physical card order fee: £4.95, now free with your first £100 deposit

No other changes

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Cashback (previously Classic)

Free monthly domestic transfers out (limit): Previously 100, Now 10, £1 after

Debit card top up fee (%): Previously free, now 1%

Cash top up fee (%): Previously £400 free, now £100 free, 3% after

ATM out fee (%): Previously £500 free, now £300 free, 2% after

No other changes

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Premium

No changes for existing customers

First physical card order fee: previously free, now £4.95

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Cyber Monday: Things to remember

Cyber Monday has arrived! And it is, as ever, a veritable behemoth of a worldwide sales event, bristling with bargains and a dizzying array of offers, all at low, low prices. It’s all too easy however to get a little disorientated by the mass-induced shopping frenzy, and perhaps a little careless in our singular pursuit of that must-have item we've seen online. This means we can often overlook, or ignore, the warning signs that what we're buying, and where we’re buying from, might not be all it seems.

With this in mind, we thought it would be helpful to list a few tips and tricks – as provided by our Fraud Team – that should help keep you stay safe during the Cyber Monday excess, and help keep your money protected from any dodgy deals. One smart way to stay protected while shopping online is to keep your device optimized and free from security vulnerabilities. Using a tool like CleanMyMac can help by removing junk files, clearing malicious threats, and ensuring your system runs smoothly while you browse. A cluttered or sluggish computer can slow you down and even make you more susceptible to scams, so giving your Mac a quick cleanup before diving into Cyber Monday deals is a simple but effective safety measure.

Lock down the URL

When inputting sensitive information, especially financial information on a purchasing page, make sure the URL starts with ‘https’. The ‘S’ means it’s secure.

Avoid bank transfer buying

Try to use trusted payment sources only. Professional merchants usually will have websites that support a variety of payment options. Fraudsters tend to prefer bank transfers.

Watch out for those ‘hidden’ subscription traps

Have you ever looked at your account to see a recurring charge that you didn't expect and didn't order? A subscription trap occurs when you're purchasing online and you're tricked into buying additional products or services that you don’t need. Many have been stung by these types of subscription traps. Over the coming days, check your balance very closely!

Protect your most valuable asset, your data

When making purchases online, think twice if you’re asked for additional personal and sensitive data. Are you being asked for ID, passport or driving licence numbers? Or even National Insurance numbers? These details are irrelevant to your purchase. Your identity could end up getting ‘stolen’ and used to commit unscrupulous things.

Beware fake “IT Support”

Some scammers can give the impression that the website you’re visiting has ‘frozen’ and urge you to call a support team to fix it. During the phone call, these scammers can masquerade as major computer companies and persuade you into believing that your computer is riddled with viruses. In reality it is not, and you’ve passed over sensitive information unnecessarily.

Buy from trusted sites only

Buying from third-party sellers, including some social media stores, offers no refund policies and are a haven for fraudsters looking to steal your money.

By keeping sight of these basic rules of engagement, there’s no reason why your Cyber Monday shopping bonanza – even if you’re just hunting for a great deal on a new phone – shouldn’t be an easy, secure and rewarding pre-Christmas indulgence.

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Introducing the new unlimited Monese Premium plan

We’re dedicated to providing next-generation financial services to everyone, which is why we offer a range of account options - to suit the various needs of our customers.

First and foremost, we cater to those who simply need a free, fully operational Monese account - one that offers all the essential features you’d expect of a standard bank account. Some of our customers, however, are more active than others, which is why our fixed-fee Plus plan is often a better choice - offering lower rates on currency conversions and cash top-ups.

Unmetered money management is cleared for launch

Now we’re introducing the unlimited Premium plan! Designed with the most heavy-duty Monesers in mind, we’re offering them this fantastic opportunity to enjoy the removal of all transactional fees of all kinds, providing a truly exceptional and frictionless mobile money management experience. For a fixed transparent monthly fee, we’re proud to offer Monese Premium - capping the cost of a completely unmetered financial service. Money management simply doesn’t get any better than this!

A fixed fee that’s simple and fair

The flat fee of £/€ 14.95 a month will allow for genuinely unlimited money management, offering you as many free ATM cash withdrawals as you like. You’ll also enjoy free foreign currency exchange at the wholesale rate, free cash top-ups and free instant card top-ups. You’ll also get a second account (either UK account or Euro IBAN, depending on your first account) and card at zero extra cost.

Make savings with every transaction

We can confidently recommend Monese Premium as the best personal finance solution for those who travel frequently - whether it’s for business or pleasure. If you’re travelling for 3 months around the globe, or spending two weeks on holiday with the family, there’s no reason to worry about restrictions on withdrawals or charges on exchange rates. Everything is included in the cost - making for a money management experience that is completely unlimited.

Compared to our own Starter plan you can expect to make considerable savings on cash top-ups (£10 on a £500 Post Office top-up). You can also expect to rack up significant savings if you’re making regular international money transfers on a frequent basis - these could be potentially huge savings when compared to many high street banks.

No strings, no hidden fees

Monese Premium comes with no strings attached - if you don’t use it for an entire month (and don’t have any money in it), you won’t even be charged the monthly fee and there are no penalties. And you can always downgrade your plan whenever you like, without having to commit for a minimum term.

In the Monese Premium plan, we believe we’re offering something truly unparalleled, that champions our core ideals and our dedication to providing the very best service at the lowest possible prices. Whatever pricing plan you’re on, we’ll always present our costs of service in way that is completely transparent and ethical - and this latest addition is no exception.

To compare our all of our plans, you can have a look at our pricing page here.

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