Brits splash money on ‘divorce events’ as spending time with household declines

Gone are the days of bawling your eyes out in the face of divorce. That’s because Brits are throwing parties to celebrate separations instead.

Yes, that’s right. Divorce parties are a fairly new phenomenon that sees people – mainly women – bake a cake, hang out banners and stock the drink cabinet high.

It hasn’t been that long since legally breaking up your marriage was seen as shameful, but that is rapidly changing. Instead of being ashamed or being sad that the relationship is over, divorce is now seen as a ‘good’ thing.

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And printing company VistaPrint are all too aware of this. The company that specialises in personalised printing noted that more and more people are paying for customised ‘divorce party’ decorations.

They’ve discovered that birthdays and weddings are not the only ‘big’ celebrations as more ‘unique’ occasions are becoming reasons to splash the cash.

It turns out that Brits are spending an average of £400 on celebrations a year – excluding weddings – as the pressure to ‘do something’ for every occasion increases.

In the Vista Print survey, where they quizzed 2,000 people, they found that individuals are increasingly driven by a desire to create unique, memorable experiences with 53% saying that ‘Galentine’s Day’ – the relatively recent phenomenon of celebrating female friendship – and divorce parties (47%) are more popular than 20 years ago.

And the likes of family gatherings and christenings are on the decline.

To no surprise, Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely to put money aside for these events. Despite the cost-of-living crisis, it shows that the younger generation are showcasing a shift toward planning and prioritising social events – even in the name of divorce.

But why the rise of the likes of divorce parties and female-centred celebrations? Well, social media is most definitely become a factor.

According to the research, Gen Z cares the most about how the day ‘looks’ with 21% admitting that making their celebration aesthetically pleasing was important.

This number could be fuelled by the fact that nearly 1 in 10 (9%) of Gen Z also prioritise how the party looks on social media. Adding onto this, 72% of Boomers shared that spending time with family and friends at celebrations is their priority.

While Gen Z cares the least, as only 50% said that this is the most important part of a celebration.

Katie Eldred, UK Senior Country Marketing Manager at VistaPrint commented: “We’ve noticed a huge shift towards event personalisation in the UK.

“While people have always loved to celebrate key dates in their lives such as anniversaries and birthdays, we’re now seeing people choosing to celebrate other important moments like pet birthdays and even divorces.”