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).

"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.

Matthew Eisman/Getty Images for DuJour Magazine

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.