The location where your wedding takes place accounts for several factors, such as the average cost of living where your wedding professionals reside.
Sharing the average cost of a wedding can be a dangerous subject to tackle because averages are a bit problematic. They can be important to touch on because averages can provide somewhat of a baseline of potential costs.
The average cost of a wedding in 2019 was $28,000. In 2020, the average cost dipped to $19,000 due to the pandemic and the growth in popularity of micro weddings and intimate weddings due to the restrictions on events.
It’s also important to note that taking an average can skew data significantly, reporting a figure that isn’t truly representative of what most people are doing.
In addition, an average does not mean that spending less is impossible. In fact, spending less is 100% possible! If you want to save money and plan a wedding on a budget, it’s absolutely possible with a little research, time, and effort.
A wedding professional is an entrepreneur, and they are considering the same things as someone in a corporate role. They are also factoring in the costs of self-employment (taxes; funding benefits, like insurance and retirement plans, on their own).
The goal is to come to a consensus about how much you can afford to spend. This includes deciding who will contribute financially (and to what aspects of the day), as well as how much you’re comfortable spending in total on what is essentially a party.
Your wedding budget should be determined based on a mixture of your personal financial situation, your values, your priorities, and your overall financial goals for your life together.