One in five romantic encounters at an Irish wedding involve members of the bridal party

So much for not stealing the thunder of the bride and groom.

Show us somebody who’s been to an Irish wedding that hasn’t seen a couple of guests cop off with one another and we’ll show you a liar. Sure, with all the romance in the air and hormones flying all over the shop it’s inevitable really. What we didn’t realise until today was the huge potential for romance for members of the respective bridal parties; let’s just say their chances of pulling on the night are better than the average guest. 24% of respondents to a recent survey carried out by One4all on wedding etiquette revealed that they have had a romantic encounter at a wedding. No real surprise there, but one in five of those who have had a romantic encounter at a wedding revealed that it was with a member of the bridal party. Might give you some food for thought the next time you’re called up for Best Man or groomsman duty. The survey also found that 22% of guests expected to pay between €300-400 in total expenses for a single wedding, while 56% of respondents said that invites should be extended to close friends and family only. Just over half of those surveyed (55%) said they would happily attend a wedding on their own, while 75% said they would happily ditch the kids if there was a no-children policy.