{"id":69571,"date":"2017-12-21T14:02:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T19:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bhgre.com\/bhgrelife\/?p=69571"},"modified":"2018-02-27T14:40:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T19:40:09","slug":"the-cost-of-a-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhgre.com\/bhgrelife\/the-cost-of-a-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cost of a Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cost of a wedding<\/a> has reached an all-time high. According to The Knot\u2019s annual study<\/a>, the national average for weddings in 2016 was a whopping $35,329, not including the honeymoon. That\u2019s an increase of eight percent since 2015\u2019s study, and if this year follows suit, the average cost of a marriage will increase to $38,000. To put it into perspective, that\u2019s enough to feed 350 children every weekend for an entire school year (Washington Post<\/a>). Here\u2019s how people are exceeding the five-digit realm for their wedding budget.<\/p>\n

Location plays a huge role, with a national average of $16,107 spent on venues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wedding venues are at the top of the list in terms of priority when it comes to weddings. With 48 percent of couples requiring a scenic backdrop for their wedding, as reported by The Knot<\/a>. Couples are also now choosing to have more weddings away from home, with 49 percent of weddings more than 200 miles from the bride and groom\u2019s hometown.<\/p>\n

Despite the overall number of destination weddings being down, a significant number of couples are still choosing to take their vows overseas. The top locations for destination weddings in 2016 were:<\/p>\n