SPINOFF: CostOfWedding.Com

Interesting. I think we are right with the average...although, no, we haven't really added it all up. We have added up what we are paying for, but not what my parents have contributed.

@JCC - this website is definitely an eye-opener for those starting wedding planning, especially if their initial budget is way off from the "average" within their area. True, you can save money by DIYing, booking "friend"ors, etc. But you have to be realistic about costs (ie. thinking you can cater for 200 people with only $500 - even in the cheapest areas, this couldn't happen without accruing additional costs you haven't thought of!)

Just thought it would be a useful website for everyone during their budget/planning stages =)

Oh hey, I think I posted about this site hahaha

I agree, it's a great tool to get an idea of what weddings in your area can cost and can be helpful when trying to create a realistic budget or knowing kind of what to expect when you go out to talk to different vendors. We were able to save money by cutting some things that we decided just weren't important to incorporate and going the DIY route on other things, but if we hadn't made a point of doing those things to save us money, our wedding would've been pretty close to what the site predicted for us.

@Jesse's Girl - yes, you were the one who mentioned it on the other post! So thank you for the suggestion!

I actually think it's a little misleading. In my area, the average wedding cost is between $19-25K, but 45% of people spend <$10K. A median cost per wedding would actually be much more accurate than the average. Realistically, one or two huge budget weddings can throw off the average (it's the Michael Jordan thing - what's the average salary for a histoy major the year he graduated from NC? About $40 million. Because his salary, even in retirement, throws the curve way off), but the median gives you a good picture of what people actually spend. If almost half the people in my area can throw a wedding for under $10K, than that is definitely a possibility, budget-wise. But looking at the average, I would think you had to spend almost twice that to have a nice wedding. Is anyone else's average that far off from the median?

In my area, it's close, but for officiants way off.

I just read and interesting article the other day about this-- this site (and others like it) report 'average prices', meaning that the $100k weddings pull the number up quite a bit, What we all need to know is the 'median price'-- that is, the point at which half the numbers are below and half the numbers are above, and thus it's less influenced by extremes. The article pointed out vendors will use these numbers to mislead people by saying, "You know, the average price for my service is.... X, and I'm less, so you're getting a bargain!"

@Doublej079 brought up a good point - It is interesting to see that "average" and "median" prices can vary greatly. For example, San Diego's average is $34,000ish but about 60% of those people spend less than $20,000. I know for myself, I probably could end up in the 60%, but we're anticipating a huge guestlist (260+ since we already come from huge families where everyone is close).

We spent a fraction of the "average" budget listed for our area. I guess it's a helpful tool if you have no idea where to start, but after working on weddings for several years, I walked into the planning process with quite a bit of budgeting know-how.

Looks about right for my area. The brides who spend 2 grand on DJ's may jack up the price, but the amateurs who give away 6 hours or service for 300 bucks keep it balanced.

I was under every budget for the "average" wedding in EVERY category. I bargain shopped and couponed as much as I could to get a nice wedding for a reasonable price. We came in at about 13k not including honeymoon or rings.

According to that, we were within the average window but we're 3x what people "usually spent." Lol. Oh well.

For my area, avg. is $195; BUT expect to spend between $293 - $390+ for Well-experienced Professional Officiants

(my fee starts at $200, but I've officiated almost 1,450 ceremonies -- so I think I fall into the "well-experienced" category).

I like how it shows "average" spending AND "typical" spending. Like, the average for my area is about $27,000, but it says that almost 40% of couples spend less than $10k.