Brits Confess to Spending Three Months Planning Their Birthday

BRITAIN IS a nation of party goers and people who find any excuse for a celebration, with new research revealing that when it comes to birthday celebrations, one day simply isn’t enough.

A survey of 1,044 UK adults by One4all Favourites Gift Cards found that nearly a third of Brits (32%) spend a staggering three months planning their birthday celebrations, including making bookings, confirming guestlist’s and getting excited for their big day.

When it comes to the actual anniversary, nearly 1 in 2 (43%) spend a full week marking the occasion, with nearly 1 in 10 going whole party hog and lengthening this out to one entire month, proving single day celebrations to be a thing of the past.

When asked what birthday milestone Brits celebrated the hardest and made the biggest fuss of, 50th birthdays (23%) topped the list, with nearly 1 in 4 saying this was their top birthday extravaganza – all eyes are now on celebrities such as Idris Elba, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law who are all set to turn the big 5-0 this year.

This was closely followed by 60th (18%) and 40th birthdays (14%) – meaning your teens and twenties are no longer the biggest bang when it comes to birthday milestone celebrations for Brits.

The research further revealed how much Brits like to splash the cash on their birthday, with more than a third (36%) spending £500 on the celebrations for their special day – and it’s men who like to make the biggest birthday fuss, as 35% reveal they enjoy having bigger and prolonged celebrations, compared to only 30% of women.

When asked if you’re ever too old to receive a cake with candles, an excitable 83% say you’re never too old, with the classic royal choice of cake, Victoria sponge (36%), coming out on top as the nation’s favourite alternative birthday cake.

The research further revealed that children have the singing voices Brits cherish most, as 66% say their children are who’d they’d most like to hear sing them the traditional happy birthday song.

When it comes to birthday gifting, nearly 1 in 4 (23%) say they like to specify exactly what gift they’d like to receive, while 34% would most like to receive a gift which gives them the choice to choose something they really want – such as a gift card.

Lou Hickey, Marketing Director at One4all Favourites Gift Cards, comments on the findings: “It’s wonderful to see how much the nation loves to make a fuss of their birthdays, and that single day celebrations are a thing of the past. It’s clear that you’re never too old to enjoy your birthday, cake and all, and that the celebrations continue to get bigger and more extravagant later in life!

“We can see from the research that many Brits prefer to receive the gift of choice when it comes to their birthday, perhaps conscious of creating less waste – and the One4all Gift Card is a perfect option as it allows people to choose something they really want either in-store or online, and from a range of different shops and brands across the UK.”

The One4all Favourites Gift Card can be spent in more than 55,000 stores across the UK and can be loaded with anything from £15 to £100. It is easy to buy from your local Post Office, Tesco, selected Morrisons, Co-op, Sainsburys, Waitrose and Iceland supermarkets nationwide, as well as online at one4all.com