Christmas is not just a time for tucking into turkey and overindulging in festive treats. Along with New Year’s Eve, it’s also one of the most popular times of the year for popping the question. Wedding proposals reach a high and with it loved-up couples perusing engagement rings also have to start thinking about budgeting for the ‘big day’ itself.

But the days of the father of the bride footing the bill for their daughter’s wedding look to be over. In fact, according to a new survey by top jewellers Beaverbrooks, the age-old practice is falling by the wayside with 81 per cent of weddings now being a paid for by a collaboration of family members.

A study revealed only 18 per cent of bride’s parents now take care of the entire tab for the big day with 42 per cent of couples paying for it themselves. And despite the bride’s family traditionally paying for the event, the report revealed that these days the grooms parents are also keen to chip in for the big day.

Other wedding purchases that were bought by family members included wedding rings, bridal jewellery and luxury watches.

But in some cases grandparents are also chipping in to pay for the nuptials the poll by Beaverbrooks found, in fact £1390 of the typical wedding fund is contributed by grandparents of the bride and groom.More than half of the 2,000 married females polled said they never expected their father to foot the whole bill, and felt it was a dated tradition.

Anna Blackburn a spokeswoman for Beaverbrooks said: ‘’Weddings can be expensive and it’s fairly common for family members of both the bride and groom to contribute.

‘’The days of the father of the bride paying for everything are becoming increasingly uncommon, not only because it’s huge financial burden for him, but also the groom’s parents want to play a part too – which is understandable.

‘’It can take years to save for the wedding of your dreams and many couples do sacrifice other things in order to pull off the best day of their life. Many argue that spending thousands and thousands on one day is unnecessary but for many it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.’’

The poll also found that nearly one in ten couples even receive hand-outs from their siblings in order to pull-off their dream wedding. Although it’s the couples themselves who are bearing the brunt and paying for the majority. Despite donations from others, more than one in ten bride and grooms still didn’t have enough money to pay for everything they wanted.

A quarter of those, said their parents didn’t give them enough and 30 per cent said other things cropped up which meant they had to spend money elsewhere.

Despite it now being common place to split the cost of the modern wedding – 14 per cent of brides still managed to fall out with their parents over wedding costs.

And one in ten couples said there was awkwardness and tension over the finances of their big day. A third of brides said they expected more money to be given to them, but in contrast 29 per cent said they felt overwhelmed by the huge sum their parents were offering to pay towards their nuptials and felt they couldn’t accept it. Other arguments arose when one set of parents contributed a great deal more cash than the other.

A quarter of the women surveyed said rather than paying towards their big, white wedding, her parents wanted to pay towards something else. Of the quarter – 37 per cent said they would be happier stumping up a deposit to a property and a third would rather pay for the honeymoon. Nearly one in five parents said they would be happier putting money towards a trust fund for a new baby. One in twenty said their parents were reluctant to stump up any cash as they weren’t ‘totally on-board’ with the marriage and 27 per cent felt the wedding was too extravagant.

Anna Blackburn spokeswoman for Beaverbrooks added: ‘’There really is a lot to consider when it comes to weddings but the planning can be really enjoyable.

“Our store teams have helped brides and grooms with anything from the perfect wedding bands to the perfect proposals and wedding jewellery. Wedding rings are a big part of the special day and need to be chosen with care, as both brides and grooms will be wearing them for the rest of their lives.

‘’We are on hand to help perspective brides and grooms choose their wedding bands and can advise on what sizes, styles and metal suit each individual.’’

The poll found a plain gold band is still the most popular choice for brides, whereas Beaverbrooks have found an increasing trend towards white gold and platinum diamond set wedding rings, and fortunately 73 per cent of women said they love their wedding ring as much now as they do when they first got it.

For more information about Beaverbrooks wedding rings visit: www.beaverbrooks.co.uk.