Top 10 most expensive places to get married
Weddings are a happy event, a celebration of love, an exchanging of vows and a couple's major milestone. They can also be very, very expensive.
To find out just how much couples are spending on their big day, TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com surveyed more than 17,500 U.S. brides who got married in 2012 and released the results in their annual Real Weddings Study.
What they found is that the average wedding budget (excluding honeymoon) comes out to $28,427. But, depending on where you're planning to say "I do," that average can go much higher (like Manhattan, where $76,678 is spent on average) or lower (like Alaska, the least expensive place to get married, per the study, with an average budget of $15,504).
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"In 2011, budgets increased for the first time since the economic downturn, and this past year, in 2012, we saw that wedding budgets are continuing to rise even more and to an all-time high since 2008," said Carley Roney, co-founder of The Knot. "Couples are increasingly less concerned with the economy and are comfortable investing more than ever in the once-in-a-lifetime experience of planning their wedding and making it a fabulous experience for their guests."
Keep clicking to see what average wedding costs (like the venue, dress and engagement ring) come out to nationwide, per the study's findings, and then compare those to the average costs in each of the top 10 most expensive areas of the country to tie the knot.
Nationwide
Average spent on overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $28,427
Wedding dress: $1,211
Venue (reception hall): $12,905
Photographer: $2,379
Florist/decor: $1,997
Wedding cake: $560
Engagement ring: $5,431
1. New York (Manhattan)
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $76,687
Wedding dress: $2,877
Venue (reception hall): $29,670
Photographer: $4,261
Florist/decor: $4,414
Wedding cake: $809
Engagement ring: $15,687
2. Chicago
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $49,810
Wedding dress: $1,750
Venue (reception hall): $24,108
Photographer: $2,967
Florist/decor: $2,950
Wedding cake: $636
Engagement ring: $8,192
3. Long Island, N.Y.
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $49,002
Wedding dress: $1,913
Venue (reception hall): $23,103
Photographer: $3,776
Florist/decor: $2,913
Wedding cake: $542
Engagement ring: $8,155
4. North/Central New Jersey
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $48,496
Wedding dress: $1,789
Venue (reception hall): $22,626
Photographer: $3,624
Florist/decor: $2,770
Wedding cake: $619
Engagement ring: $8,213
5. Rhode Island
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $47,399
Wedding dress: $1,603
Venue (reception hall): $22,629
Photographer: $3,007
Florist/decor: $2,842
Wedding cake: $647
Engagement ring: $8,566
6. Westchester/Hudson Valley, N.Y.
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $46,300
Wedding dress: $1,832
Venue (reception hall): $22,516
Photographer: $3,414
Florist/decor: $2,703
Wedding cake: $587
Engagement ring: $7,723
7. Santa Barbara/Ventura, Calif.
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $42,319
Wedding dress: $1,551
Venue (reception hall): $19,186
Photographer: $2,980
Florist/decor: $2,619
Wedding cake: $811
Engagement ring: $6,917
8. New York (Outer Boroughs)
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $39,602
Wedding dress: $1,450
Venue (reception hall): $20,583
Photographer: $2,885
Florist/decor: $2,606
Wedding cake: $622
Engagement ring: $6,588
9. Boston
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $39,239
Wedding dress: $1,368
Venue (reception hall): $19,624
Photographer: $2,957
Florist/decor: $2,205
Wedding cake: $623
Engagement ring: $6,416
10. Philadelphia
Overall wedding (excluding honeymoon): $38,369
Wedding dress: $1,405
Venue (reception hall): $18,173
Photographer: $2,985
Florist/decor: $2,568
Wedding cake: $558
Engagement ring: $5,985
Source: TheKnot.com 2012 Real Weddings Study.