Have you ever thought about what the average cost of a wedding is? Spoiler: It’s not cheap!

The wedding industry is a growing one. It’s seeing an annual growth rate of 3.2%, while the whole industry is worth $72 billion and it employees well over a million people.

While an average wedding won’t cost nearly as much as some of the most expensive weddings ever, like the wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana that cost a whopping $110 million, it will still financially set back the newlyweds significantly.

Let’s dig into specific average costs of a wedding:

Just the clothes the bride and groom wear cost over $1500 on average. A wedding dress costs about $1350, while the groom spends just shy of $300 on his attire.

Add to that another $130 the bride spends on hair and makeup.

But those aren’t even the biggest costs. Most money is spent on:

1. Venue – $12.000 on average;
2. Wedding and engagement rings – $4000 on average;
3. Photography and video – $2835 on average;

Other costs include spending about $1500 for flowers and decorations, $1400 for entertainment, and roughly $68 per person for catering.

A wedding cake will set the groom and his beloved bride back another ~$550, while they have to dish out about $800 each for both the wedding planner and the invitations.

Weddings are by no means cheap, though it needs to be said that averages don’t tell the whole story. An average wedding in Idaho costs a ‘mere’ $16,159, while a wedding in Manhattan, New York is over five times as much – $86,916 on average.  Country wide, the average is $27,698.  For Utah there is a wide range, but costs generally come in around the national average or below.

Thanks to JJ Suspenders for allowing us to use the info-graphic.  See exact average costs of a wedding and more info on JJ Suspenders website.

How does this compare to your wedding?  Please leave a comment below and let us know.