Cost of Weddings by Size
As we have demonstrated on a number of occasions, choosing to elope is the best way for couples to save money on the cost of their wedding. In fact, as we discussed in our book How to Save 90% on Your Wedding and Still Have a Honeymoon, it is possible to save as much as 90% when you choose elopement over a traditional wedding with all of the trimmings. However, we don’t just expect you to take our word for it – so we have been looking at the differences in the average cost for weddings based on their size and how this has impacted the wedding industry as a whole.
Falling Marriage Rates & The Growing Elopement Trend
According to CostOfWedding.com, the average traditional wedding in the United States carries a $26,444 price tag! In their recent survey TheKnot.com revealed an average wedding costs about $31,213. That’s a substantial sum to pay out for just one day and doesn’t include the $5,000 average week long honeymoon. In our Why You Eloped survey 72% of couples have chosen to elope instead because they either do not have that kind of money to spend on their wedding, or because they would much rather put that kind of cash towards the down payment on a home where they can start their new family. Right now, the marriage rate across the US is at the lowest point that it has been in well over 100 years. When you take into consideration the fact that the annual number of marriages in the US dropped by 5% during the recession it is safe to say that the prohibitive cost of a traditional wedding has a big part to play in that decline.
However, the good news is that there are signs of an upswing in the wedding industry especially among millennials. Cultural changes among this generation mean that they are far more likely to cohabit before marriage and that means that getting married is far less of a priority for them than for previous generations. This is another reason why they are so attracted to the idea of eloping instead of having a traditional wedding and together with the financial savings explains why interest in elopement has more than doubled in recent years.
Percent of Weddings by Size
As is to be expected, the larger your wedding is, the more expensive it is going to be. It is estimated that around 50% of people who get married in the United States have what we would consider a large, or traditional, wedding. This includes an average guest list of around 135 people. It is difficult to imagine that you even know 135 people that you would invite, but that is the very nature of a traditional wedding – it often becomes bigger than just you and your partner and before you know it your parents are insisting on invites for friends, distant relatives and business associates! Aside from the cost of a large wedding, avoiding these kinds of family politics is another popular reason for choosing to elope!
A growing number of couples are trying not to get caught up in the whole ‘big white wedding’ thing and even if they do not choose elopement, many of them are planning much smaller and more intimate weddings. Based on industry statistics and our estimates, approximately 33% of US weddings each year are Small or Mid-Week Weddings with fewer than 50 guests that can help to reduce the cost to a more manageable average of around $9,636 including those back yard Do It Yourself (DIY) weddings. A lot of couples find this smaller scale much more manageable although it can throw up some challenges when it comes to keeping the guest list to a minimum – especially when those family politics come into play again!
The remaining 17% of weddings are what we call Elopements, Tiny Weddings, Vegas Weddings or are sometimes referred to as “Fast Weddings”. Every year more couples are discovering that they can have an all inclusive elopement package for just $2,500 or less – at a massive 90% savings versus the cost of a traditional large wedding. On average, elopements usually have 8 or fewer guests meaning that only those closest to you are involved in your big day. Aside from the huge financial savings, eloping couples are also finding that this option means less stress and less hassle all around.
