Jan 25, 2010

The True Cost of an Average Wedding (Infograph)

By Krystal Wynn posted January 25, 2010, 12:30 pm | Comments: 43

Ever wondered how much money is spent on the flower girl’s flowers or how much the wedding industry makes on photography? We’ve taken the numbers and broken them down so that you can see the average wedding cost per couple and where exactly it is going.

For stats on the entire wedding industry, see our Weddings By The Numbers infograph!

How does your wedding compare to these average wedding cost numbers?

[click to enlarge]

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This story happened over a year ago, but it is so great we thought we’d tell it again for those that didn’t hear about it when it happened. What a great story! And it goes like this: Jack Frankel (75) and Fina Nikolos (67) first met at a Whole Foods in Coral Springs, FL this May. It was raining that…

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http://www.juniorweddingplanner.com Jaime

Wow! This is CRAZY!
Joe

You forgot the DJ!

http://www.professionalmobileent.com Mark

I think the music covers the DJ or band. A 38,000 wedding and 2.5% goes towards entertainment, yet entertainment is 80% responsible for the success of a reception.
I thought the reception was the entertainment part of the wedding?
Weddings are becoming more of a fashion show.

james

If you have a $2,000 photographer in a major market (not counting some little town in the boonies), chances are they’re someone without much expeirence starting out and most likely and outdated equipment. A decent photographer costs at least $4000 and you’ll get a couple of photographers.

Also consider how much time the photographer has spent dealing with the bridzilla and her mother, how many other customers they have met with and not got the job, how many hours they will spend after the wedding with post processing, how much money they are spending on equipment (one of my lenses alone costs $1700 and I don’t even do weddings), cost of the office, studio, taxes, etc. and it’s not that much that the photographer “makes from the wedding industry”.

http://www.assolux.com Denis

Prices do not necessarily related to quality. I have great equipment, shoot with canon L lenses only and charge under 2000.
You can check my portfolio at http://www.assolux.com/assolux_wedding_photography_01.php .
But I agree with you that it is not very profitable unless you charge 5-10K for a wedding and have lots of them.
http://www.weddingphotos101.com Megan

I’m a wedding photographer in LA, and I TOTALLY agree. Who the heck can find any photographer for just $2000? Maybe your uncle… also a dress for just $1500? Good luck at David’s Bridal…

http://rovia.honeymoonwishes.com/?agentId=5781301&agentEmail=arlenmadsen@gmail.com&agentName=Arlen%20Madsen Arlen Madsen

A great way to help pay for you honeymoon!
start a honeymoon registry!
Ketan

Now do the true cost for an average indian wedding.
http://lostinstockholm.com Sapphire

What does the market value mean? Is the amount that segment of the industry earns in revenue on an annual basis? is this net earnings or not?

good chart but lacking details…
SueA

I have freinds in the industry so i won’t bash anyone who wants to employ them BUT…

i did it my own way and paid for what i could afford. My and my husband split the B&B and bought dinner for our guests (of only immediate family and close friends) no stupid garter dance, no DJ , no video no flowers and my brother used my old SLR to take pics for us.

The part where i almost fainted from the enormity of marrying my husband was priceless, i guess. it was that unplanned part you can’t buy. the important part.

I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

http://C'Mon.com Not a whiney punk

OH MAN- if James was there and you paid him $4000 it would have been so much more romantic and special and epic and PARTY. Plus 4000 is NOT very much at all btw because James is such an incredible photographer, he even perfected the chemistry involved in making his very own lens that can take pictures of his own douchiness.

james

You can give a monkey a camera and they’ll take pictures, but it doesn’t mean they’re going to be good. At best you’ll get a few shots for your facebook and at worst you’ll get grainy and unusable pictures. An experienced photographer gets you pictures you can frame. They know which shots work best. Their equipment can handle low light.

I never said a photographer makes their marriage happy so you’re making a straw man’s argument. Out of all the expenses listed, photography is one of the few that’s actually going to last for ever.

If you’re a starving young couple trying to make it then no, don’t spend that money but if you’re going to spend $10,000 on food and you skimp out on the photography, you’re not going to have much to remember the day with.

But hey what do I know, I’ve seen my fair share of brides who are in tears after they see how their bargin pictures turned out and are frantically asking me to edit them which in most cases won’t do miracles.

Jane Jetson

$200 at home wedding with family and yet my marriage is still just as legal and probably happier. It’s about the marriage, not the wedding folks!

C Buds

Amen!!! Finally a women who gets it. If only you weren’t already taken.

I’m in the industry and as others have said a major market, like NYC or LA, this would be the deal of a life time for a full wedding.

To all the ladies, and men, Please remember that the words said during your ceremony existed long before any of this vain, non-sensible, superficial bull we call the “wedding day.” Don’t take those words for granted and realize that the person facing you isn’t just part of the decoration.

This is coming to you from someone who is in their twenties, but unfortunately do to my career I’ve already seen too many marriages come and go for various reasons.
http://C'Mon.com Not a whiney punk

4200 if James was there, blaze up bridezilla

wikiBuddha

I wonder what the cost of a domestic partnership is. The cost of the certificate and the gas to get to and from the courtroom? Sounds like the gays win again.

http://C'Mon.com Not a whiney punk

If you gave James 4Gs (not very much) he could prob take yr picture with a chapel backdrop and then it’s just like yr in a chapel anyways. Everyone wins!

Engaged Fools and Suckers

Small, lavish, tropical location wedding with all travel for wedding party = $10,000

Honeymoon there in complete style = $5,000

Amazing Hometown Reception for 100′s (the part guests like if they don’t have to sit through the ceremony) = $5,000

Saving a bundle by bucking the stress of a ridiculous “manufactured and marketed traditional wedding” = priceless

The best time to avoid becoming a divorcee, is by making your wedding a good thing, not a bad thing that you try to remember fondly.
Alex Fernando

My wife and I spent just under $2,500 for our wedding. The photography and music was provided free of charge by friends. We spent $300 for her dress and $150 for my suit. We did our own invitations, decorations, and her father was our pastor. The biggest expenses were the rental of the venue, venue insurance, and the food, which we paid for but was prepared by friends of ours. Her ring was given to us by a family friend and my ring was $100.

Both of us loved our wedding and wouldnâ€™t have done it any other way. And yes, she loves the ring. :)
LP

I agree with you, “Engaged Fools and Suckers”, I got my wedding and a week honeymoon in Mexico, planned it in 3 months and spent about $10,000. My god, why the hell would you spend more than that?! It’s just a 2-4 hr party. You don’t want to go into debt for it! If my family didn’t freak out when we told them we wanted to do something simple on the beach, we HAD to have a church wedding.
Dan

Wow.. this is ridiculous.

Reception food for 200=> $1100
Cake + Favors => $400
Tux => free
Dress => $350
Ceremony and reception at couple’s church => free
Gratuity to Pastor => $100
Singer under P.Diddy’s label who happens to be a friend => free
Friend + iPod to be your DJ => $100
Photographer from work (design company) => $300
Flowers, misc => $500

Plane tickets => $1400
Private, beach front vacation home rental for 10 days on Hawaii’s north shore => $2000
Rental car, groceries, spending money => $1200

Having almost everyone in attendance tell you it was the most beautiful wedding they’ve ever seen.. well.. priceless. You don’t have to go all “Father of the Bride” style to have a perfect wedding. The most important part is about who you’re marrying, not how much you want to be in debt (or your parents). Spending almost $40k on an “average” wedding is not only ludicrous, its downright stupid.

skeptical

I doubt these numbers very much. From my observations, I would put the real number at less than $10k. This takes into account the workers of the world that do not make much. I have been to some super fun weddings that were well under 10k. I think this must be a rich people survey or maybe they ask wedding planners, lol.

Nonbeliever

These numbers are definitely inflated. The rich people of the world are so out of touch with reality and the wedding industry publishes tons of misleading information to pressure young brides into overspending on their weddings. I’ve even known brides who quit their jobs to plan their wedding.

http://www.eightforums.com source

depends on the area.

http://www.nowhereatall.net Brian Kessler

You’ve forgotten something very important: How much does the average divorce cost after this average wedding?

http://C'Mon.com Not a whiney punk

Oh my god, best zing EVR!

http://twitter.com/lmb1119 Leslie

We were definitely way below the average but still had a beautiful wedding.
Michael

We took the 75k that a full wedding would have cost us and instead invited a witness and hired an officiate. We spent the other 74k on a honeymoon worthy of the the name. Over a month long and hotels that you do not to even know the cost of, I love St. Regis

http://C'Mon.com Not a whiney punk

MAN-I was watching the Haiti coverage on CNN today (WUDUP CNN!) and I was thinking, if I had 75k, I could totally go on the flyest honeymoon ever and invest it into bs like alcohol and obnoxious rooms to have sex in- but looks like you beat me to it Mike!

Tiger

Wow, your name should be IRONIC punk – all you do is whine! If that’s what he wanted to spend his money on, who are you to judge. You are obviously one of those obnoxious women who have to ALWAYS say what’s on their mind and if someone doesn’t do things they way you do, then, they are WRONG. Get a life – and realize that the world doesn’t revolve around you and your opinions.

http://www.hivemindinc.com Tom Lauck

We tried to keep costs down, but with 100 guests, good photography, and a nice venue, we ended up at about $48,000.
Jimmy

Then couple of years file for divorce……sad but true
Derek M.

I was IN a wedding and after airfare, hotel, tux rental, gift, and everything else it was over $1700….. So I don’t feel bad one bit.
http://www.occasionsniagara.com Patti Wallington

After reviewing the costs that you have posted..I have to agree with most of them. It’s pretty acurate. Some metro cities may charge a bit more and rural ares a bit less.
Michael

Has anyone ever heard of living beneath their means?

My wedding cost $60 bucks. 20 for the license and 30 for the justice of peace. I’ll save the remaining thousands for the next down payment on a HOUSE.

http://7ulio.com Juliet

So… where did the other $10 go? =D

Jay

That’s ridiculous. My wife and I paid $7000 for our wedding with 70 guests in ’97. If you put $15-20k of that away for 45yrs you’d retire with a million dollars!
nietzsche

pf–women. so damn expensive.
rcorrino

Clothes you’ll never wear again.

A honeymoon you can always repeat (or do better when you have the money)-don’t tell me you and your spouse had never “honeymooned” before the wedding….

Food which your guests (not you) will be enjoying.

Compromise on everything BUT the photography. What good is a lavish wedding when you are 70 and can’t remeber one bit of it.
http://www.employeratlas.com Eric Di Bari

It’s crazy how much weddings cost. You’re lucky to get a percentage of that back in the gifts, too.
morgan

ok i have a question… i have really wanted to look into hiring david tutera… on a site i found it stated that he is between $30,000-$50,000.. comsidering the average wedding cost, is that a bad deal??
http://marylandvideoproduction.com Maryland Video Production

Gotta remember that these are averages. It doesn’t mean your wedding will be this much, it only means that some people spend more, others spend less and inbetween that, there is an average.
Anonymous

its really important to plan things first to make your wedding a successful one.

The True Cost of an Average Wedding (Infograph)