Wealthy PotAverage Wedding Cost: What Couples Actually Spend, and the Median Nobody Quotes
The average American wedding cost $34,000 in 2025, according to The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study, a survey of 10,474 couples who married that year. The typical, or median, wedding cost much less: $24,000. A quarter of couples spent about $12,000 or less, and a quarter spent more than $41,000. No government agency tracks what weddings cost, so every figure here comes from an industry survey, and this page says which one, how it was run, and what it can and cannot tell you before you set your own budget.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- $34,000 was the average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2025, about the same as 2024 ($33,000) and 2023 ($35,000) (The Knot, industry survey).
- $24,000 was the median. Half of couples spent less, half spent more. The average is pulled up by big weddings: 13% cost $60,000 or more.
- 117 guests on average, at about $292 per guest.
- The venue is the largest single bill, averaging $12,900. Catering averaged $80 a head.
- Costs swing by location, from about $17,000 in Wyoming to $57,000 in New Jersey on The Knot's state figures.
- Parents and family covered 52% of total wedding spending; couples paid 48%.
- About 2.04 million marriages took place in the US in 2023, the latest official count (CDC). The median age at first marriage in 2025 was 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women (Census Bureau).
Where Wedding Cost Numbers Come From
Unlike groceries or rent, there is no federal survey that asks what a wedding cost. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, the government's main spending survey, has no wedding category. Its closest line, "catered affairs," lumps weddings together with every other catered event and averaged $47.95 per household across all 135.8 million US households in 2024, which says nothing useful about a single wedding. What the government does count is marriages and ages, which helps frame the market but not the price.
The cost figures that get quoted come from wedding-planning companies surveying their own users. The two largest are:
| Survey | Who was asked | Sample | Average cost | Average guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study | Couples married Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2025, recruited by email from The Knot and WeddingWire members | 10,474 couples | $34,000 (median $24,000) | 117 |
| Zola First Look Report 2026 | Engaged couples planning 2026 weddings | Over 11,500 couples | $36,000 | 145 |
The difference matters. The Knot asks couples after the wedding what they actually spent. Zola asks couples who are still planning, so its figure is closer to an expected budget. Both samples are people who use a wedding-planning website, which likely leaves out many courthouse and very small weddings, so even the median probably overstates what the typical marrying couple spends. This page leads with The Knot because it measures outcomes, and it is the only one that publishes a median.
Average vs Median: The $10,000 Gap
Wedding spending is lopsided. A minority of very expensive weddings drags the average well above what most couples pay. The Knot's own breakdown for 2025:
| Spending group | What they spent | Typical profile |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 25% | About $12,000 or less | Averaged 92 guests; parks, family homes, DIY decor, friend officiants |
| Middle 50% | $12,000 to $41,000 | The median wedding, $24,000, sits here |
| Top 25% | Over $41,000 | Averaged 141 guests; full-service venues; family covered 62% of the bill |
| All weddings | Average $34,000; median $24,000 | 13% cost $60,000 or more |
If you are budgeting, the median is the better benchmark. Planning around $34,000 because it is "average" means planning to outspend more than half of couples. The average has also been flat in recent years: $28,000 in 2019, $19,000 in pandemic-hit 2020, $30,000 in 2022, $35,000 in 2023, $33,000 in 2024 and $34,000 in 2025, on The Knot's rounded figures.
Wedding Cost by Category
Couples hired an average of 13 vendors in 2025. The Knot publishes the average spend for each major category, plus the quartile range, which shows how widely prices vary:
| Category | Share who hired | Average spend | Middle 50% spent around |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | 89% | $12,900 | $10,400 (low quartile $3,500, high $24,800) |
| Photographer | 88% | $3,000 | $2,800 |
| Florist | 59% | $2,800 | $1,900 |
| Wedding dress | 91% | $2,100 | $2,000 |
| Event rentals | 68% | $2,000 | $1,700 |
| DJ | 71% | $1,800 | $1,600 |
| Cake | 76% | $530 | $500 |
| Groom's attire | 84% | $330 | $310 |
| Hair and makeup | 72% | $300 | $300 |
| Catering | 85% | $80 per guest | $70 per guest |
Several costs sit outside the $34,000. The Knot reports separate averages of $4,600 for the engagement ring, $3,000 for wedding rings, $2,800 for the rehearsal dinner and $5,500 for the honeymoon. Add those and an "average" wedding year runs well past $45,000, which is worth knowing before you compare your plan with the headline number.
Wedding Cost by Region and State
Location moves the bill more than almost anything except guest count. The Knot's regional averages for 2025 weddings:
| Region | Average wedding cost |
|---|---|
| Mid-Atlantic | $48,400 |
| New England / Northeast | $46,600 |
| South / Southeast | $31,300 |
| West | $31,300 |
| Southwest | $30,800 |
| Midwest | $29,000 |
At the state level the highest averages were New Jersey ($57,000), Rhode Island ($51,000), New York ($49,000), Vermont ($47,000) and Massachusetts ($45,000). The lowest were Wyoming ($17,000), Idaho and Utah ($18,000 each), and Alaska, Arkansas, Oklahoma and West Virginia ($19,000 each). Big-city averages run higher still: The Knot puts New York City at $88,000. Small states rest on fewer survey responses, so treat any single state figure as a rough guide.
Destination weddings cost more on average ($41,700 for a domestic destination, $43,700 abroad) than hometown weddings ($32,600), even though they tend to be smaller. Season matters less than people think: July to September weddings averaged $35,400 against $33,200 for January to March.
Average wedding cost by state
| State | Average wedding cost (2025 weddings) |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | $57,000 |
| Rhode Island | $51,000 |
| New York | $49,000 |
| Vermont | $47,000 |
| Massachusetts | $45,000 |
| Connecticut | $42,000 |
| California | $39,000 |
| Delaware | $39,000 |
| Illinois | $38,000 |
| Maryland | $38,000 |
| Maine | $37,000 |
| New Hampshire | $37,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $36,000 |
| South Carolina | $35,000 |
| Louisiana | $34,000 |
| Virginia | $34,000 |
| Florida | $33,000 |
| Hawaii | $33,000 |
| Colorado | $31,000 |
| Texas | $31,000 |
| Georgia | $29,000 |
| Michigan | $29,000 |
| North Carolina | $29,000 |
| Wisconsin | $29,000 |
| Minnesota | $28,000 |
| Ohio | $28,000 |
| Alabama | $27,000 |
| Arizona | $27,000 |
| Missouri | $26,000 |
| Washington | $26,000 |
| Indiana | $24,000 |
| Tennessee | $24,000 |
| Kentucky | $23,000 |
| Oregon | $23,000 |
| Nebraska | $22,000 |
| New Mexico | $22,000 |
| North Dakota | $22,000 |
| Iowa | $21,000 |
| Mississippi | $21,000 |
| Montana | $21,000 |
| Nevada | $21,000 |
| South Dakota | $21,000 |
| Kansas | $20,000 |
| Alaska | $19,000 |
| Arkansas | $19,000 |
| Oklahoma | $19,000 |
| West Virginia | $19,000 |
| Idaho | $18,000 |
| Utah | $18,000 |
| Wyoming | $17,000 |
Average wedding cost in major cities
| City | Average wedding cost |
|---|---|
| New York City | $88,000 |
| Chicago | $54,000 |
| San Francisco | $51,000 |
| Boston | $51,000 |
| Los Angeles | $45,000 |
| Philadelphia | $40,000 |
| San Diego | $38,000 |
| Houston | $33,000 |
| Dallas | $32,000 |
| Seattle | $31,000 |
| Denver | $31,000 |
| Phoenix | $27,000 |
| San Antonio | $26,000 |
| Indianapolis | $25,000 |
| Las Vegas | $22,000 |
| Oklahoma City | $21,000 |
By generation, The Knot puts the average at $39,600 for millennial couples, $30,000 for Gen Z and $23,000 for Gen X.
Guest Count: The Biggest Lever
The Knot's average guest count was 117 in 2025, almost unchanged from 115 in 2023 and 116 in 2024, and the cost per guest was $292, up from $284. Multiply the two and you land at about $34,000, which is why guest count drives the total. The Knot's cost by wedding size:
Guest counts vary in predictable ways. By region, The Knot's averages run from 140 in the Midwest to 102 in the South and Southeast, with the Southwest at 126, the Mid-Atlantic at 125, the Northeast at 109 and the West at 104. Gen Z couples invited the most (129), ahead of millennials (112) and Gen X (90). Hometown weddings averaged 123 guests, domestic destination weddings 92 and international ones 69. Guest lists have not returned to the pre-pandemic average of 131 seen in 2019.
| Guests | Average wedding cost |
|---|---|
| 1 to 50 | $17,100 |
| 51 to 100 | $27,200 |
| Over 100 | $43,300 |
Not every cost scales with headcount. A photographer or DJ costs the same for 60 people as for 160. Catering, bar, rentals, cake and stationery do scale. A rough, hypothetical example: cutting 20 guests at The Knot's average $80 catering cost per head saves about $1,600 on food alone, before drinks, rentals and a smaller venue.
Who Pays for the Wedding
Across all 2025 weddings in The Knot's survey, parents and family covered 52% of total spending and couples 48%. The more a couple pays themselves, the less they spend: weddings where the couple paid for everything averaged $25,500, against $39,600 where the couple paid only a minority share.
Zola's survey of couples planning 2026 weddings found 88% contributing money themselves, 29% paying the whole bill, 51% saying they had saved for years before getting engaged, and 4% taking out a loan. More than half (52%) said they were putting other goals on hold, most often general savings (70%) and buying a home (59%).
For parents and grandparents, which is much of our readership, the same numbers apply from the other side. A gift toward a wedding is usually a one-off from savings, so decide the amount early, tell the couple, and give a fixed sum rather than an open promise. If you are near or in retirement, size it against your own plan first; our guide to budgeting on a fixed income covers how to fit large one-off costs around a pension and Social Security.
How to Budget for a Wedding
1. Start from the median, not the average. $24,000 is what the typical couple in The Knot's survey actually spent. Adjust for where you live using the regional table, then for guest count.
2. Turn the total into a monthly number. The Knot's average engagement was 14 months (Zola's planning couples report 18). Hypothetical examples over 14 months:
| Wedding budget | Monthly saving over 14 months |
|---|---|
| $15,000 | $1,071 |
| $24,000 (median) | $1,714 |
| $34,000 (average) | $2,429 |
Plug your own numbers into the savings goal calculator, and keep the money in an insured, interest-paying account; see whether a high-yield savings account is worth it. If the monthly figure does not fit, the budget calculator will show what has to give.
3. Pick the three things that matter most and spend there. The venue, catering and guest list set most of the total; everything else is detail. Our wedding budget guide goes through where couples can save and where cutting usually backfires.
4. Hold back a buffer. Roughly one couple in two told The Knot their first budget turned out lower than what a wedding really costs. Five to ten percent kept in reserve covers the surprises.
5. Do not finance it on a credit card unless you can clear the balance quickly. A wedding balance carried at card interest rates keeps costing you long after the day itself; see average credit card debt for what carrying a balance costs. Couples merging finances for the first time can start with our guide to budgeting as a couple and planning major life events on a budget.
Sources & Methodology
- The Knot Worldwide, "The Knot Worldwide Unveils 2026 Real Weddings Study" (February 18, 2026) and the 2026 Real Weddings Study Data Read-Out (PDF): average and median cost, spending quartiles, category spend, guest count, who pays. Industry survey of 10,474 couples married in 2025.
- The Knot, "The Average Wedding Cost, According to The Knot Data": regional, state, guest-count, seasonal and who-pays breakdowns from the same study.
- Zola, First Look Report 2026: planned cost and funding among over 11,500 engaged couples. Industry survey.
- CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Marriage and Divorce: number of marriages, provisional 2023.
- US Census Bureau, Table MS-2: Estimated Median Age at First Marriage (Current Population Survey, released December 2025).
- BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2024 detailed expenditure means: "catered affairs" line.
- The Knot, "The Average Wedding Size in the US": guest counts by region, generation and wedding type, from the 2026 Real Weddings Study.
Method notes. No government agency measures wedding costs; all cost figures above are from industry surveys of each company's own members and are labelled as such. The Knot's headline is rounded to $34,000 in its report; its article gives the unrounded $34,200. Regional and state figures are The Knot's own and come without published sample sizes. Monthly saving figures and the guest-count example are our arithmetic on those published averages. The 2025 marriage count has not yet been published by CDC.
This article is for general information and is not financial advice. Figures are from The Knot, Zola, the CDC, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, checked against the primary sources on 2026-10-05. Industry survey figures describe the companies' own respondents and may not represent all weddings. Budget examples are hypothetical; your costs depend on location, guest count and the choices you make.
FAQ
What is the average wedding guest count?
117 guests for 2025 weddings in The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study, up slightly from 116 in 2024 but below the pre-pandemic 131 in 2019. Midwest weddings averaged 140 guests and Southern weddings 102.
How much does a wedding cost in New York City?
The Knot puts the average at $88,000, the highest of the major cities it reports, against $49,000 for New York State as a whole and $34,000 nationally.
What is the average cost of a wedding in 2026?
The latest completed-wedding figure is $34,000 for weddings held in 2025, from The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study. Zola's survey of couples planning 2026 weddings puts the planned average at $36,000. Both are industry surveys.
What is the median wedding cost?
$24,000 in 2025, according to The Knot. Half of couples spent less and half spent more. A quarter spent about $12,000 or less.
How much does a wedding for 100 guests cost?
The Knot reports an average of $27,200 for weddings with 51 to 100 guests and $43,300 for weddings with more than 100. Its average cost per guest across all weddings was $292.
What is the most expensive part of a wedding?
The venue, at an average of $12,900 among the 89% of couples who paid for one. Catering is next for most couples, at about $80 per guest on average.
Who traditionally pays for a wedding today?
It is shared. In The Knot's 2025 data, parents and family covered 52% of total wedding spending and couples 48%. Weddings paid entirely by the couple averaged $25,500.
Is there an official government figure for wedding costs?
No. The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey has no wedding category, and no other federal survey measures it. The government counts marriages (about 2.04 million in 2023, per CDC) but not what they cost.
Which state has the most expensive weddings?
On The Knot's 2025 figures, New Jersey, at an average of $57,000, followed by Rhode Island ($51,000) and New York ($49,000). Wyoming was lowest at $17,000.
How much should we save each month for a wedding?
Divide your target by the months until the date. A $24,000 wedding over a 14-month engagement, The Knot's average, takes about $1,714 a month without family help.
Cite This Page
Journalists, educators and bloggers are welcome to cite these statistics. Please link back so readers can reach the primary sources.
"Average Wedding Cost: What Couples Actually Spend, and the Median Nobody Quotes." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/average-wedding-cost/
