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I'm always interested in comparing my recent wedding against the averages and trends across the country. The question everyone always wants to know (I get asked this fairly frequently) is how much the average wedding costs these days. According to The Wedding Report, the major company that tracks trends and figures in the industry, the average wedding in 2010 cost just over $24,000. Now, I don't want to say exactly how much my wedding cost -- truthfully, it's because I really lost track by the the end of planning -- but that's right in the ballpark.
Other statistics I found interesting:
The average wedding in 2010 cost $24,070. This is up from 2009's average cost of $19,580, but down from a high of $28,730 in 2007.
The most expensive area of the country in which to get married, according to The Knot Real Weddings Study, is New York City (shocking, right?), ringing in at $70,030. The least expensive region is Utah, where the average wedding costs $13,214. In case you were wondering, the D.C./Maryland suburbs is number 13 on the list with an average of just over $33,000 ... so it's definitely higher than the national average.
As for non-financial statistics ...
According to The Wedding Planning Institute, 48 percent of couples are committed to incorporating eco-friendly elements into their wedding.
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The Knot Real Weddings Study says December is still the most popular month of the year to get engaged (18%). Not for me! David proposed in April.
The majority (63%) of ides-to-be provided input on their engagement ring, with over one in five (21%) actually selecting the ring themselves. This is an increase of 9% versus 2009. I selected it myself, though he did not guarantee that's the one I was going to get.
My engagement ring
The average number of guests is 152. I had 87, but I think I had a much smaller wedding that most because it was basically a destination wedding.
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Liquor has increased in importance with 92% having some type of bar, toast or signature cocktail and liquor or alcohol glassware gifts for groomsmen, doubling since 2009. We had a bar, toast, and signature cocktails. The groomsmen received flasks as gifts, while the idesmaids all had a bottle of wine as part of their gifts.
Finally, destination weddings are more popular these days. Destination weddings rose the past two years, with an increase of 20% since 2008. In fact, approximately 1 in 4 couples considered their wedding a destination wedding in 2010. This, in turn, affected the percentage of guests needing overnight accommodations – 42% compared with 36% in 2008.
