Nearly 1 in 3 Londoners no longer drink at weddings – dry celebrations on the rise

Drinking culture continues to change across the UK, as it’s revealed a quarter (24%) of Brits are now going alcohol-free at weddings, with the #drywedding hashtag seeing a surge on TikTok at over 5.6 million views.

Samantha Gilchrist, CEO of the UK’s largest wedding venue collection, The Gilchrist Collection, conducted a survey of 2,000 UK adults and found that almost half (47%) of those who had attended a wedding in the last five years didn’t drink alcohol during at least one of the events they had been to.

Key Survey Findings:

• Quarter of Brits (24%) don’t drink alcohol at weddings, according to new study
• Dry Wedding trend being driven by 18-34-year-olds, with 28% choosing to go alcohol-free at big events
• More than a third (35%) feel ‘uncomfortable’ when questioned about not drinking, but 52% of sober guests are only offered water as an alternative

But which UK cities lead in sobriety at weddings?

The Gilchrist Collection can reveal that Belfast takes the lead in the sobriety trend, with 31% of Belfastians surveyed choosing to ditch the booze completely at weddings. While 44% mentioned they’ve never consumed alcohol, a notable 22% cited cost savings as a reason for abstaining amid concerns raised by a recent study unveiling Belfast residents are spending the most on alcohol per week – despite not being the UK’s biggest drinkers.

Sharing the second spot are Brighton, Bristol, and Birmingham, each with 30% of respondents opting to forgo alcohol entirely at such events. Among those who went ‘dry’, Bristolians ranked second in favour of finding sober weddings more enjoyable (42%), slightly behind Manchester at 44%. Brummies, on the other hand, felt obliged (41%) to come up with an excuse for not taking booze, while a significant 32% resorted to drinking to sidestep awkward questions.

London secures third spot with the most sober wedding guests as 29% eschewed alcohol completely. Among them, a troubled 33% find themselves in situations where they had to reveal personal information to justify why they weren’t drinking.

Rounding off the top five are Cardiff and Liverpool, with a commendable 26% and 24% steering clear of alcohol at weddings, respectively, as residents from both cities expressed a strong desire for wedding organisers to cater to guests who choose not to drink.

Sheffield, on the flip side, appears to be the least sober curious with a staggering 73% admitting to consuming alcohol at every wedding they attended in the last five years.

Samantha Gilchrist, co-founder and CEO of The Gilchrist Collection said: 

“We’ve seen a flurry of enquiries across our 12 venues in the UK and USA from couples keen to embrace the no- or low-alcohol wedding trend in the last 12 months and have hosted multiple dry weddings in that time.

“As a non-drinker myself I’ve often been at a wedding or event with limited or even no drink options other than water or a soft drink, which is no fun! Worse still, these drinks are often presented in a boring tumbler that highlights the fact I’m not drinking. I really wanted to put something together for my venues that caters for non-drinking guests, whatever their reasons might be.

“Young people in particular are choosing not to drink for all sorts of reasons, which is why we wanted to team up with the incredibly talented Merlin to enhance our alcohol-free drinks offering for our couples and their guests. Make no mistake, there’s nothing ‘mock’ about these drinks!”