True Cost of a Wedding

True Cost of a Wedding

Don't forget Nearly 60% or $1,500 of that total is dedicated towards the bride's dress. In total, attire amounts to 7% of the total budget or $2,600. However, this does not come cheap.

Attire This is your big day and you want to look your best. Not included in this total is an additional $953 for music and entertainment. Do not forget to allocate $2,300 for the photographer and another $1,400 for the videographer. Nearly $3,700 in total. If you want to capture those once in a lifetime moments, you will have to pay dearly.

Photo & Video Making up an estimated 10% of the total is Photo and Video. Other expenses include rent for the venue, the wedding cake, and hotel rooms. On average, couples spend over $2,800 just on beverages and bartenders. Having an open bar will increase the tab significantly.

In addition, do not forget the alcohol. Depending on the number of the guests, catering for all the food was estimated to cost over $9,000! This amounted to over $14K or 37% of the expense. Reception As you can probably guess, the cost of the reception was by far and away the largest expense for a wedding. This figure includes the engagement rings and the honeymoon, which on average amounted to $4,400 and $3,700, respectively.

There will always be more expensive and less expensive weddings that will change the average. In 2010, The Bridal Association of America estimated that an average wedding costs a whopping $38,500! The true cost of a wedding continues to increase each year.