Getting married in the West Midlands will set couples back more than the national average - but considerably less than if they lived in London, according to a new survey. At £17,899, the cost of getting hitched in the region is more than £500 above the national average figure but still £5,000 cheaper than in the capital.

The cost of getting married is rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, with the national average wedding now costing £17,370, according to the eighth annual wedding costs survey, the most comprehensive research into the cost of getting married, conducted by wedding insurers Weddingplan.

London is the most expensive place to get married, with the cost climbing to a whopping £22,906 while couples in Northern Ireland face the smallest bills (£15,296)

Scotland, the South West and the West Midlands are all above average, whilst East Anglia, Wales and the South East are all on the list of bargain places to tie the knot.

Overall, the cost of getting married has risen by 5.4 per cent since last year (against a retail price index of 2.4 per cent in November). Since the survey was first carried out in November 1998 (pricing a wedding in 1999), the cost has risen by a staggering 75 per cent.

The research looked at the cost of the wedding attire, church, flowers, transport, reception, stationery, photography and video - as well as the wedding rings and the honeymoon.

Given that the average wedding now costs as much as a family car, it is perhaps surprising that fewer than 20 per cent of couples take out wedding insurance to protect them should something go wrong.

National average wedding costs from the eight annual wedding costs surveys carried out by Weddingplan are as follows:

1999 £9,938.71

2000 £10,676.08

2001 £11,546.80

2002 £12,025.64

2003 £14,186.37

2004 £15,244.91

2005 £16,475.04

2005 £17,370.00