NEW YORK CITY – It can cost a lot to tie the knot, now more than ever, according to the wedding planner group Zola.
This year in the U.S., after the confetti is swept away and the tables are folded, the average newlywed couple will be left with a car-sized $29,000 hole in their savings, Zola’s First Look Report 2023 suggests.
That’s up $1,000 from last year’s findings, according to Zola, but things get even pricier when large cities enter the fray. At that point, Zola estimates weddings to cost upwards of $33,000 on average.
But how do the costs mount, how are they usually paid off and who gets the bill?
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While inflation is a distinct factor, the number of guests that attend a wedding is the crucial multiplier of those increasingly expensive goods and services, with most couples inviting crowds of around 130-150 to eat, drink and be lively.
Surveying over 4,000 couples nationwide, Zola found the following figures relating the cost of an average wedding to the number of guests attending:
- Over 200: $40,000 and up
- 150-200: $36,000
- 100-150: $31,000
- 75-100: $22,000
- 50-75: $18,000
- Under 50: Below $15,000
More couples are pledging to contribute to the cost of their wedding these days, Zola states. Instead of just passing the cost on to their family members, 29% optimize their credit spending, 26% have saved up for years and 24% include cash funds on their wedding registry to help pay for the party, according to the report.
In Florida, Zola found that the average wedding cost in 2023 was $28,121.
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