Most people know that weddings are expensive affairs to put on. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the cost of weddings is going to go down any time soon.
Wedding website The Knot recently released the results of its annual Real Weddings Study. Your wallet will probably hurt just reading through it.
The study, which surveyed nearly 16,000 American brides and grooms, found that the average cost of a wedding in 2014 was $31,213, excluding the honeymoon. That's up from $29,858 couples spent on weddings on average in 2013, according to The Knot's study. Wow, that sure sounds like a lot to pay for some fancy flowers and balloons, doesn't it?
If the average cost of a wedding sounds like a ginormous amount of money to spend, you're definitely going to want to stay away from Manhattan for your nuptials. That was the most expensive place to get married, according to The Knot's study, with couples spending an average of $76,328 to get married there. Instead, you might want to consider getting hitched in Utah, which, with couples spending an average of $15,257 on their weddings, was the least expensive place to get married in 2014.
So what are couples spending all of that money on to throw a wedding that they'll hopefully remember for the rest of their lives? You would think that much of the funds would be allocated to the all-important wedding dress, but couples spent $1,357 on a wedding dress on average in 2014. Couples are even downsizing their weddings a bit with the average number of guests now 136, down from 149 in 2009.
However, some of the rising costs might be explained by couples increasingly making their weddings more personalized and unique by choosing more unconventional places to wed. Getting married at historic buildings and farms has increased among couples since 2009, according to the study, which estimates that about 40 percent of couples "are looking for unusual venues that better reflect their personality." The study also found that couples are spending more on the reception, funneling more money into catering, musicians and cake, and less on the actual wedding ceremony these days.
You can check out the full results of The Knot's study here. Hopefully, it doesn't make you want to stay single forever.
Photo: GU (古 天熱) | Flickr
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