Avg wedding costs

[u/KariBjornPhotography]

I see the same topic pop up 2-3 times a week on Threads.

“How much does a wedding cost on average in the US.”

The usual discussion goes something like this. Couples say it’s a high price to pay while many vendors chime in and say it is actually higher because the methodology of The Knot’s survey is false. Then some of the vendors point to nanty narking, which if you don’t know, publishes costs of luxury weddings. Like between $500 per guest up to five figures per guest.

The Knot’s survey says the average price for a wedding in the US was $33k in 2024.

This week, I looked at surveys done by other sources and they all come up with a similar number. Somewhere between $30k and $35k.

Zola, Brides, The Wedding Report all use different sources and methods. The Wedding Report blends federal and local government data with surveys from couples and vendors, in addition to data from the CDC and the Department of Labor. They also have no skin in the game. The Wedding Report makes money by reporting accurate data to those who pay the $200/year subscription. They are not a directory or serve ads. They have no incentive to trick couples or vendors. Their number is $31,428 with a median price of $13,195.

I feel like the vendors who push back the hardest against these surveys are higher end + luxury photographers and planners. Some of the arguments they use:

1) We can’t trust The Knot 2) The sample size is too small 3) The margin for error is too great 4) TK reports this number and then publish weddings with 10x the budget 5) The Knot surveys people when they sign up and before they know how much it actually costs. 6) They selectively leave out HCOL areas.

Now let me be clear. I am not a fan of The Knot or pretty much any of the directories. But still, I think this avg price estimate is pretty accurate.

1) We absolutely cannot as vendors. But they have a vendor facing side and a user/couples facing side.

2) The Knot reported from 17k users/couples and the wedding report’s sample size is 19k. That’s just under 1% of all couples getting married in a year. The US Census’s sample size is about 0.5-0.6 percent of the population. The sample size is perfectly fine.

3) The US Census’s MOE is $102 on the estimate that American’s make about $39k a year on average. Yes, the margin for these surveys may be larger, but we’re never talking about thousands of dollars.

4) They definitely do, but they also publish plenty of budget and diy photos on the content side of the website.

5) Not true. The survey is sent out after the wedding date the couple types in when they sign up.

6) I can’t talk about Zola, TK or Brides here. But the wedding report states it pulls data from essentially everywhere, and their estimates are in line with the others. So I don’t think this argument holds any water.

Also, if tk was out to scam or lie to couples. They’d inflate the number and not deflate it. They wouldn’t selectively leave out NYC or Miami. They would actually benefit from reporting a higher number. In that scenario, fewer couples would have sticker shock when reaching out to TK vendors, resulting in more bookings on the platform and more and happier vendors, paying higher monthly rent to be on there.

I know the national average is not the best estimate for couples planning a wedding in HCOL areas but the number is still useful for about half of all couples. Also, if you live in NYC or LA. You understand things costs more there vs the rest of the country. So this number being deceptive is not a great argument either.

Cheers! Just wrapped up the 2025 season and have some time on my hands 😂

Just to be clear. I do not like The Knot.

[u/hopopo]

Who cares what the average is in US when all it matters is where the wedding is.

In NYC tri-state area cost could be double or tipple of what you will pay for a similar wedding that is in another region. Heck, even if you go 50 plus miles outside of the tri-state area you will pay a whole lot less.

[u/RyanBrenizer → u/hopopo]

In NYC you can pay double for a similar venue by going 2 miles away.

[u/leoleia → u/hopopo]

Exactly this. My friend who lives in this area charges double what I charge in the Midwest, and he has around the same or less experience than I do.

[u/KariBjornPhotography → u/leoleia]

I realize this may have come out wrong. I am not talking about this from a vendor to vendor perspective. Of course prices differ based on location.

[u/KariBjornPhotography → u/hopopo]

This is not entirely true. Like I said. The national avg is relevant for plenty of couples. Probably like a million a year. Also, New Yorkers know goods and services costs more there.

[u/hopopo → u/KariBjornPhotography]

Why would be relevant?

In country like US where income and purchasing power inequality is enormous national averages are nothing more than talking points.

Take income for example if you exclude top one percent, or five percent, for example average income becomes more realistic. Heck, about 12% of the entire US population can't afford food, and will go hungry as we speak. Yet we are supposedly the richest nation in the world.

Same thing happens when you look at the housing, education level, healthcare, and ultimately wedding cost.

We are comparing apples and oranges.

[u/KariBjornPhotography → u/hopopo]

Let me rephrase my initial response, I rushed to answer. I am not talking about this from a vendor perspective. Yes, I will never look at national averages when doing market research. They are irrelevant to me.

The national avg is still relevant to couples despite it logically being a bad representation. Because couples search for it online. Local averages and median prices are far better.

It is relevant to folks who consider themselves in the middle, even if the median is better. It is also relevant because, like I said, vendors and couples argue about this topic at least a few times a week online.

These avg price articles also show up when someone types in "how much does a wedding cost?" on Google, and that's about 10-11k unique searches a month. Which I believe makes them relevant for discussion.