Weddings by the Numbers (Infograph)
Posted by Krystal Wynn on January 11th, 2010The wedding industry brings in over $71,795,327,100 annually….yes, that’s $71 billion! Have you ever wondered how that breaks down and where you fall within the norm? We’ve gone ahead and crunched the numbers to see exactly how it all plays out. How do you stack up?
One of the more interesting points is that the actual expense is $10,000 higher than the average budget. What is your budget and do you think you’ll be able to stay within it? All of your favors, from chocolate bars to custom t-shirts can really add up.
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Tags: Average, Honeymoon, Infograph, Money, Numbers, Statistics, Weddings
I’m so glad I grew up sensibly and married a sensible woman. We couldn’t imagine starting out life with $30K in wedding debt.
There are many more expenses that make the wedding’s a economic booster. The suits and gowns. The flowers and food etc…
Although my wife likes to shop I’m luck that we are both sensible and didn’t go crazy with our wedding or afterwards.
We had a small reception in her parents backyard that was elegant and fun.
WTH? What about Atlanta?
People don’t get married there.. they just settle there after marriage! lol
I’m in the middle of planning a wedding… I’m trying to plan something simple and inexpensive…it is NOT easy….it makes me sick how the industry is inclined to exploit.
I hear ya. Plan a party, not a reception, it’ll be cheaper and wayyy more fun.
great info chart!
I’m wondering what you think of the role of technology in the wedding industry and cost is?
An example is we used SocialFlyr iphone app for wedding announcements and are using it for thank you notes, and will save us $3000. Think this is a trend that will effect the trend?
No because sending an electronic invitation is tacky.
If by tacky you mean Smart, I completely agree.
I don’t feel like Thank you notes are a place to go virtual. What if everyone sent you a virtual gift? Thank you notes should still be hand written, not matter how great the technology.
Wow, LA is way down there. I’d also be interested in seeing Santa Barbara’s stats- though I’m sure there’s no where near as many events, but the $$ would probably be up there.
These are great numbers, I’ve sent them off to our event manager at http://bentlyreserve.com, thank you very much!
Side note, typo on the ‘Breakdown of Costs’ section, you have an extra comma in the price for ‘Photo & Video’.
It is for these economic reasons that I would think everyone, everywhere would be in favor of gay marriage, if only to increase the customer base. Me, I got married in Vegas for $300. Thirteen years later we’re still going strong.
No kidding. If gay marriage was legal, I’m betting that the $71 billion mark would spike way up in the first few years and then settle back down to $90 billion (at least) with the added number of weddings.
People would probably like to make jokes about gays being fabulous and extravagant, but I doubt their wedding costs would surpass heterosexual wedding costs.
Consider that the average gay man has a higher educational degree and higher income than the average hetero American, yes I think they’d have more disposable income for weddings.
Just say DINK. Double Income No Kids.
I’m curious where you get this data. I can’t see the little box on the lower right corner of the graph which probably lists the source.
In my humble opinion these numbers are low. I’d like to find more data and compare to industry data.
Hey Amy: the stats are from http://costofwedding.com as well as stats listed here http://www.soundvision.com/info/weddings/statistics.asp from US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03ff02.html, The Knot (http://www.theknot.com/au_industrystats.shtml), The Association for Wedding Professionals International (http://www.afwpi.com/wedstats), Sellmoreweddings.com, Sellthebride.com (http://www.sellthebride.com/tipsstats.htm), American Demographics
Bride’s Millennium Report: Wedding Love & Money, and Bride’s magazine
Thanks for sharing…this is interesting!
Big weddings are overrated. The couples should have a long vacation instead.
Someone went a little overkill on the graphs here…I’m getting nauseous just looking at it.
I love the effort put into design and user experience. The iPhone, any Apple product for that matter, and mint.com make life more enjoyable.
Any stats on the Atlanta market?!
GREAT post. I’d like to share your article with my own blog readers. Truly informative!
Rashana Anderson
My wife and I had a simple, bare bones wedding in 1998 with immediate family only. Total cost was $2,000 USD, including photos. I wish we could have afforded more, but we were young, poor, and in love. =)
What’s the data for Hawaii?! My island home state hosts tons of wedding!
Making your dream wedding cost a fortune,but as they say, “it’s once in a life time”.
I am amazed at these statistics. I have a wedding and reception slated for under 6k allowing for a 10% costs unforeseen token, and most of my contracts are already lined up and costs are locked in. I personally can’t fathom paying as much as the “average” in my area (Dallas–about $25k) even if it were within range for my personal finances.
A lot of commenters need to calm the heck down their judgmental tones. People have different priorities about what should be done with their disposable incomes. If some people want to and can afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a special, lavish party so all of their friends and family can cme together to celebrate the couple’s love and commitment to one another, then that is their prerogative. Jesus. Nobody’s criticizing you for how much you spent on your barbecue grill or truck or home or WHATEVER.
I think at the end of the day, the budget issue is a matter of what works for the couple. These averages can be published, but even within a city, things vary so much from couple to couple.