Sep 5, 2024
When Adrian McLaughlin and her fiancé got engaged in late 2023, she asked her friends about their wedding budgets.
Although her friends were already planning their own weddings, she found that “no one really knew what they were doing in terms of cost,” she said. “It seemed like everyone was just winging it.”
So Adrian, a social media strategist, turned to the internet for help. Among other things, she found that the price of weddings in her hometown of Chicago was significantly more than she and her fiancé, Karl, wanted to spend.
“We decided not to get married in Chicago,” explained Adrian, who will instead hold her September 2025 wedding in Michigan City, IN. “All of our friends getting married in the city will be paying about twice what we are.”
These days, of course, traditional weddings are not the only type of ceremony or celebration that many couples enjoy. Domestic partnerships, civil unions, elopements, city hall ceremonies, or private gatherings may all be reasons to celebrate. While location matters, many factors can affect the price of a ceremony and event.
“So much goes into a wedding,” said Niela Callanan, an event planner in Chicago. “But how much you spend will depend on what you like and what you want. There are some great ways to save.”
If you are getting married or planning a similar celebration, it’s important to manage your expenses while being mindful of your long-term financial goals. To help, we’ve broken down some of the top wedding costs and what your options may be to pay for them.
In 2024 the national average for the cost of a wedding was $33,000. That’s up from $29,000 in 2023.1 Your wedding costs, however, may differ based on a number of factors, including location, your guest list, the size of the celebration, and the time of year. The number and type of vendors and services are among the elements that will have the largest impacts.
Broadly speaking, these three categories of planning cover the times before, during, and after your wedding.
The costs leading up to your wedding may include buying an engagement ring, hiring a wedding planner, and sending out correspondence such as save-the-dates and invitations.
Another expense may include buying or renting clothes for the wedding. A bridal shower and bachelor or bachelorette party might also add to the costs, if those events aren’t paid for by friends and family.
Keep in mind that there is a variety of ways you could save on pre-wedding costs. One example is to borrow a wedding dress, buy one from a consignment shop, or choose a gown not labeled “wedding.” The groom could also choose to wear less-formal attire than a tux.
Callanan said she tells her clients to earmark the majority of their wedding budget for the ceremony and reception. “Probably about 50% of it should be just for the reception alone,” she said.
For the ceremony, costs may include a rehearsal dinner, the wedding venue, and the officiant. Additional services might involve hiring a photographer and/or videographer, florist, hairstylist, and makeup artist. Transportation for the happy couple as well as the guests may need to be considered. To minimize your ceremony costs, everything but the officiant and a venue might be considered as optional.
For your reception, expenses can involve the party venue, hiring a caterer, and booking a live band or DJ. A wedding cake, drinks, party favors, and wedding night accommodations will add to the cost. If you want a photo booth or step and repeat backdrop, add that to your tally.
To reduce expenses, a DJ typically costs less than a live band, and cupcakes or a large sheet cake may be more affordable than a towering wedding cake. If you’re crafty, you might make your own party favors. Or you might rent a photo booth or purchase a step and repeat for less than the price of hiring a photographer.
Other ways to cut costs might also include negotiating with your vendors and considering holding your wedding on a weekday or a Sunday afternoon.
Don’t forget the honeymoon, if you plan to keep celebrating after the celebration. Although this is not part of the wedding itself, it’s good to factor in the cost of a honeymoon from the start. Depending on what you like and can afford, this might range from the price of a staycation to a dream trip abroad.
To help save money on travel, you might consider delaying the honeymoon until a time of year when flights and hotels are less expensive. Or, instead of wedding gifts, you could ask wedding guests to put money toward your honeymoon fund.
As Adrian and Karl discovered, the average wedding cost can vary greatly depending on the location of the event. To give you a glimpse of typical wedding costs in different parts of the U.S., we’ve separated the regions where you can expect to pay more or less.
Weddings are typically more expensive in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S., with the average cost for states in both areas exceeding $42,000. Some hotspots in these parts of the country include Manhattan and Newport, RI, as well as Maine, the New Jersey Shore, and the Maryland coast.
If you’re planning to get married in the Southeast, West, or Midwest, you can expect your wedding to cost less. The average price in these regions ranges from about $30,000 to $34,000.2 Prices across these diverse regions will vary, but some of the most popular wedding locations include the Florida Keys, Las Vegas, and Napa Valley.
If you really want to splurge, planning your wedding at a destination away from home is an attractive option. The range of costs for this is as varied as your imagination, with the Bahamas, Paris, Tuscany, and Mexico City among favored locales.
Adrian and Karl estimated that they saved tens of thousands of dollars by simply holding their wedding just over an hour away from Chicago. When planning your own ceremony, consider how flexible you might be to help you save on costs.
While June remains a popular month to get married, late spring through early fall is generally considered to be wedding season. Cost could be among the many factors involved when finding the right time to schedule an event.
Typically, July to September is the most expensive time of the year for weddings, with average costs exceeding $35,000. Planning weddings at other times could save thousands of dollars for both you and your guests.3
If you’re looking to keep the cost of your wedding down, a good place to start might be limiting the size of your guest list. This may be difficult, but it could have a large impact on your costs. Some couples choose to elope and have few or no guests at all.
For those who do plan a public ceremony, a wedding with 50 to 100 guests will, on average, cost nearly $12,000 more than a wedding with fewer people. For a 150-person wedding, the cost can rise to about $45,000, while a wedding with a guest list of 200 or more typically exceeds $60,000.4
Besides reducing your guest list, there are many ways you might save money on your wedding costs.
“In almost every category, there are ways you can keep your costs down,” Callanan explained, based on her experience planning weddings in multiple states.
For example, you may choose to purchase flowers at a wholesale store and put bouquets together yourself. “You might also supplement fresh flowers with synthetic flowers or go without boutonnières and bouquets for your wedding party,” Callanan suggested. “Instead of having flowers on every table at the reception, some people put candles on every other table.”
To control costs at their upcoming wedding, Adrian said that she and Karl are planning to go without any flowers or cake. “It’s just not super important to us,” she explained. “We’ll put that money toward having a live band instead.”
Other cost-cutting measures might include serving fewer hors d’oeuvres, limiting the bar to beer and wine, or switching from printed save-the-date cards and invitations to electronic notifications. Callanan said a growing trend is to give guests pre-paid Uber codes for rides between the reception venue and hotel instead of hiring a shuttle.
Taking care of many of the wedding arrangements yourself may also help save money. If the reception venue allows, you might provide your own alcohol. Or if you want to cater your own party, you could hire a food truck or cook at home.
Even with all the planning you do, it’s helpful to be prepared for unexpected or overlooked costs that might arise. If not fully accounted for, these “hidden” expenses can quickly add up and throw off your budget.
For example, bride-to-be Adrian said that the need to make vendor down payments up front as well as the addition of taxes and tips “were three things that can be surprising and no one really talks about.”
Callanan also cautioned that there may be additional expenses for your reception venue. This might include surcharges for hiring vendors that are not on the venue’s preferred list or additional fees for early or late access. Be aware that price might also increase for each added employee assigned to work the reception.
As you plan for the big occasion, you’ll need to think about how to pay for your wedding. This decision may have long-term effects on your finances, so it’s important to make the smart choice for your financial future.
Keep in mind that the topic might go beyond just the cost of the wedding. Having a conversation with your partner about wedding expenses offers an important opportunity to discuss how you plan to combine your finances and the long-term financial goals for your marriage.
There are several options you might consider as you plan how to pay for your wedding:
If you have enough money in savings, you could use it to cover the cost of your wedding. Or you could establish a dedicated fund well in advance of your wedding date and save money over time.
One benefit of relying on your existing savings is that it may help ensure that you don’t spend more on your wedding than you can afford. This option has several advantages, but it might not be available to many couples.
Some people are able to turn to their parents or other relatives to help cover the costs of their wedding. In 2023, parents, on average, covered 52% of the costs for their children’s weddings.5
It might be important to remember, though, if you do accept money from family, that they may also want to be involved in decisions about the venue, guest list, catering, and more. If you would like your parents or other relatives to contribute, it’s wise to have a candid conversation to set expectations early in the planning process.
Depending on overall costs, you might consider placing some or all of the expense on your credit card.
The precise amount you can spend on your credit card will depend on your credit limit and the balance you are currently carrying on the card. If you use a credit card, it’s important to pay attention to the variable interest rate you are charged to borrow the money and the impact on your overall budget.
For many couples, a personal loan for their wedding may be a smart financial decision. A personal loan is an installment loan that provides funds for you to use in a wide variety of ways. Funds can be applied to the cost of an engagement ring, the ceremony, catering, a live band for your reception, and more—even a skydiving experience on your honeymoon, if that’s on your list.
Personal loans also feature a fixed interest rate with one set regular monthly payment, so you are able to create a predictable budget based on your finances. Additionally, you might save money on interest when compared to a variable-rate, revolving credit card.
Once all your planning is complete, the most important thing is for your event to be a time of celebration and joy. With the right steps, you and your partner can begin your lives together with a clear and bright future.
A crucial part of those plans will be managing the costs of your wedding. Whether you‘re paying for your wedding yourself or have others helping, Callanan advised that it’s important to establish a clear understanding up front of exactly who is covering which expenses. This way, it’s easier to manage all the expectations involved, keep expenses within a set budget, and put on a wedding for everyone to enjoy and remember.
If you do want to explore the option of a personal loan, remember that you can use it for any aspect of your wedding—before, during, or after. Plus, you’ll know when your loan is due to be paid off. The flexibility, combined with predictability, may make personal loans just right for couples starting a new financial life together.
At Discover® Personal Loans, you and your future spouse can design your loan around your financial situation. Pick the amount you need and the repayment term from options offered to fit your budget .
To learn more, you can use our personal loan calculator to estimate your monthly payments based on the loan amount, your credit score, and the repayment term that you choose.
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