Wedding Statistics in the United States

Photo Credit: Laughwithdoraz.wordpress.com

I found some interesting wedding stats from www.soundvision.com the other day regarding weddings in the US that I thought would be fun to share!

The Numbers:
• 2.3 million couples wed every year in the US, nearly 6,200 weddings a day
• The average age of a bride in the US is 25.3
• The average age of a groom is 26.9
• The average number of guests invited to a wedding is 178
• 1/3 of those getting married each year have been married before (wow!)

The Money Behind the Marriage

• $72 billion is spent on weddings per year

Photo Credit: www.cjsoffthesquare.com

• The average wedding budget is $20,000 (Really!? But probably not in Southern California…)
• Average cost of wedding rings for the bride and groom: $1,016
• Traditionally the father of the bride would pay for everything. Today however, the bride and groom themselves pay for the wedding about 30% of the time; the bride’s parents pay about 17% of the time. The rest of the time, costs are covered by different sources – the bride and groom and one or both sets of parents (according to surveys by Bride’s magazine)
• $19 billion per year is spent on wedding gift registries
• $8 billion per year is spent on honeymoons
• The average honeymoon budget is $3,657
• Over  91% of all to-be-weds register for gifts. The couple receives gifts from an average of 200 guests
• Most wedding guests spend between $70 and $100 on a gift

Timing of Weddings
• June is the most popular month for weddings, then August, followed by September and October. Here’s a monthly breakdown:
January 4.7%
February 7.0%
March 6.1%
April 7.4%
May 9.8%
June 10.8%
July 9.7%
August 10.2%
September 9.6%
October 9.4%
November 7.4%
December 7.8%

Photo Credit: www.suntouchedweddings.com

• 80% of weddings are performed in churches or synagogues

Honeymoons
• 99% of newlyweds take a honeymoon
• The average couple will spend 3d more on their honeymoon than on a regular vacation
• 40% of honeymooners will travel within the United States, about 60% will travel to a foreign country
• Honeymoons usually last 7 to 9 days
• The most popular destinations are Las Vegas (what?!), Hawaii, the Caribbean, and 
Jamaica
• 35% of brides and grooms have a valid passport

Other Interesting Info
• The top wedding city in the world is Istanbul, Turkey with 166,000 for the year
 (I would have never guessed that!)

Istanbul. Photo Credit: KusadasiProperties.com

• Las Vegas, Nevada is in second place with 114,000 weddings

Sources for Statistics
US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03ff02.html; 
The Knot (http://www.theknot.com/au_industrystats.shtml); The Association for Wedding Professionals International (http://www.afwpi.com/wedstats)
; Sellmoreweddings.com; 
Sellthebride.com (http://www.sellthebride.com/tipsstats.htm)
; American Demographics
; Bride’s Millennium Report: Wedding Love & Money
Bride’s magazine.

Article by Sound Vision staff writer (www.soundvision.com)