Money

The Most and Least Expensive Places to Get Married in America

April 7th 2016

By:
Laura Donovan

It's no secret that weddings are expensive, and that some nuptials are more expensive than others.

But the reality is that location has a lot to do with wedding costs, according to The Knot's 2015 real weddings study, which ranks the most and least expensive places to get married in the U.S.

Using The Knot's newly released data, ATTN: created this map of the top 10 costliest and cheapest places to get married. As shown below, many of the most expensive locations are on the East Coast, and the least expensive locations are farther west, with the exception of New Orleans and Palm Springs:

Most and least expensive places to get married

The Knot surveyed nearly 18,000 brides and grooms who married in 2015 and found that the New York City borough of Manhattan is the most expensive place to get married, with the average ceremony there costing $82,299. New York, of course, is known for being an expensive city. According to CBS News, it's the priciest city in the U.S.

The Knot found that the state of Alaska is the least expensive place to get married, with the average wedding spending there only $17,361. (The national average cost for a wedding in 2015 was $32,641, up from $31,213 in 2014.)

bride-and-groom-laughing Stocksy/stalmanandboniecka - stocksy.com

Brides in Manhattan and on Long Island — which also ranked as an expensive wedding location — spend the most on wedding dresses, The Knot found. Women in Manhattan spend an average of $2,710 for a dress. Long Island ladies spend an average of $2,239.

By contrast, brides in Montana and North Dakota — both of which are on the list of most affordable wedding spots — spend the least on a dress. Montana brides spend an average of $967. North Dakota brides spend an average of $990. (The national average for a wedding dress is $1,469.)

ATTN: created another graphic of other interesting national price averages from the study:

The Knot 2015 real weddings study