A Wedding Budget:
Ildalynn Elazar
In 2022 the wedding industry made 57.9 billion dollars. The United States alone accounts for 25% of the world in wedding industry revenue. The average wedding in America costs $20,300, as of a study that was made in 2020. Although that number does vary based on what state you live in as well as personal choices. In Texas the average cost is not much lower than the National average, being $19,324 that comes out to around $293 a person to attend the wedding. With numbers as large as those a budget is beyond necessary. No matter the budget that you and your fiance choose for your wedding, a budget is going to be extremely helpful in creating a wedding of your dreams without breaking the bank!
The top five most expensive parts of the wedding are Venue, Catering, Photography, Wedding Attire, and Wedding Cake. The Venue is going to take a large chunk out of your budget no matter where you live. Although that price will most likely go up if you live in a bigger city. The national average for a wedding as of a study in 2022 was $11,200, however, the average cost of a venue for a wedding in Texas is $8,900. The second highest cost in the wedding industry is catering. Some venues will offer in house catering, someone who they partner with to offer their guests special deals as well as offering a reliable company that the venue trusts. The average cost of catering for a wedding is between $1,800 to $7,000. Of course this would vary due to the number of attendees you are planning to have at your wedding.
The third highest is photography. As with all of these categories these are averages, so the prices will, of course, vary depending on where you live and if you can get some bundling deals with venues or other deals to save those precious pennies on your big day. The average cost of Photography is between $1,150 and $3,000. Some wedding photographers will even do packaged deals where you get to have an engagement photo shoot as well as your wedding day. Not only is this saving you money but it can also be a great opportunity to see their photography style to make sure that it is the best fit for the feel of you and your fiance’s wedding.
The fourth highest cost toward your wedding would be the attire that you and your wedding party will be wearing during the celebration. Although the biggest of those costs will be the wedding dress with that price ranging from $1,800 to $2,500. Now if you have ever seen TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress you will notice that that number is smaller than the numbers that are thrown about on that show. This number is that of the average dress, where the more luxurious dresses range between $3,000 to $8,000. Challenging the price of the venue. Another way to cut some of those costs is asking the members of your wedding party to pay for their own attire, saving hundreds of dollars from your budget.
The fifth highest cost to your wedding is the cost of the wedding cake. This piece of art that you and your spouse will cut into generally costs around $500. That cost is as high as it is because traditionally that cake is the one that feeds the entire guest list as well as the bridal party. That amount of people, depending of course on the guest list that you choose, will add to the size of the cake. One way to cut the cost (no pun intended) is to instead serve a dessert bar alongside a moderately sized cake.
No matter your budget the important part of any wedding is staying within the budget that fits the wedding that you and your spouse dream of. Because at the end of the day, it is your marriage that will follow the celebrations.