Planning your wedding and feeling a little unnerved by all the decisions? What kind of flowers are hot? What's IN for themes, color schemes, decorations? Then there's the cost. Are you spending too much? Where does your budget fall in lines with "an average" wedding in the US?
We turned to the wedding experts at The Knot and WeddingChannel.com for answers. They conducted a survey of brides in the US and reveal what's going on in wedding world these days:
BUDGET:
On average, brides spend $26,984 for the overall wedding.
- New York City brides have the highest wedding budget: $70,730
- Utah brides have the lowest wedding budget: $13,214
- 12% of brides spend more than $40k on their wedding event with 1 in 5 spending more than $30k
Tip from The Knot and Wedding Channel.com: The number one way to minimize budget costs: Trim your wedding guest list!
AGE:
The average age for the Bride is 29 while the groom’s is approximately 31.
- New York City & the outer boroughs boast the oldest brides at 32 years
- West Texas has some of the youngest brides with an average age of 24
ECONOMY’S EFFECT:
Due to the economic downturn, in 2010, 24% of brides opted for destination weddings, a 20% increase over 2008.
- Brides in New Mexico, California (Sacramento, Tahoe), and Nevada (Reno, Tahoe) were most impacted by the economy.
- Brides in Alaska and Nebraska were the least affected.
- Surprisingly, less than 1/3 (or 31%) of brides said that the economy affected their wedding budget in 2010, a shocking decrease from the 34% the year before.
WEDDING STYLE:
- Hawaiian brides opted for the most casual weddings
- Northern/Central New Jersey brides threw the most formal weddings, usually hosting black-tie events.
WEDDING COLORS:
- 43% went with traditional Ivory/White
- 28% light or dark blue
- 26% light or dark green
INTERESTING:
- 98% of brides received an engagement ring
- 55% planned an outdoor wedding, 24% jetted off for a destination reception
- 28% took at least 12 months to plan their big day
- 65% of couples created a personal wedding web page
- 41% used a social network to communicate information about the wedding
What's your style? Where do you fall in these numbers?
The online survey invited nearly 19,000 U.S. brides married between January 1 and December 31, 2010 to participate through an email invitation from The Knot Wedding Network membership, which represents nearly 80% of brides-nation-wide. From the sample, 96% of the brides had received some sort of a college education and were employed. The survey included women from every demographic—age, race, ethnicity.
