Wowza: The Average Cost of a Wedding Is Higher Than Ever

There’s a collective gasp let out each year when the data is analyzed, the numbers are crunched, and a new average cost of throwing a wedding in the United States is declared. Why? Because the figure is usually rather large. And it just keeps getting larger.

The verdict is in for 2015, ladies and gentlemen, and to the tune of $32, 641. Yep, that’s the average cost of throwing a wedding these days, say the crunchers who work on The Knot’s Real Weddings Survey—a figure that is up over $1,400 (or 4.5 percent) from last year. And it’s extra eyebrow-raising when you consider that the average number of guests attending weddings today has gone down from previous years, from 149 in 2009 to 139 last year.

Some other interesting takeaways from this years batch of data, which included over 18,000 responses from brides married in 2015:

• Summer is out. October and September are the most popular months, now, for knot-tying.
• The cost of every aspect of weddings has gone up since previous years, except for favors. What people spend on them has gone down.
• Only 12 percent of couples paid for their own weddings, entirely free from parental contribution.
• Couples’ desire to personalize their wedding and really make it different than all the other weddings in their sphere is credited as a main factor behind the rising cost of weddings. All those little extra touches add up.
• The venue is still the biggest budget eater.
• Rose gold is becoming more and more popular for both engagement rings and groom’s wedding bands, and couples really don’t feel the need anymore to have their rings match.
• Manhattan continues to reign as the most expensive place to get hitched (like, $82,299 expensive). Philly jumps in at number 12 with an average wedding bill of $42,429.

Feel like staring at all of these figures? They’re right here.

For more on weddings and your wallet, go here. 

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