We all know that getting to the altar can be an expensive proposition. There are clothes and flowers and food and decorations and photography and music and a thousand other things to spend money on. But it’s useful to know that there are two things that affect your budget hugely: geography and culture.

The average wedding in the US has hovered roughly around the $20,000 mark for quite a while, give or take. One year it’s more like $22,000, another it’s more like $19,800. The fact remains, however, that in some areas of the country, that average is an insane amount of money to play with, while in others it’s a painfully tight squeeze to get a wedding on that little money.

According to Cost of Wedding.com, the average wedding in California’s most infamous zip code (90210) runs closer to $40,000. Not far away in El Centro, Ca, the average price of a wedding drops to roughly $26,000 and change. Still well above the national average, but a heck of a lot less than Beverly Hills! Up in Marysville, though, the average cost of a wedding drops very slightly below the national average.

If you look at statistics in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, and Idaho, you’ll find the average wedding runs well under the national average.

Then again, when your wedding starts feeling ridiculously expensive, you might want to thank your lucky stars you’re not trying to have a wedding in South Korea. According to this article from Reuters, the average wedding there runs in the neighborhood of $200,000 in US dollars. Many of these couples go into huge debt to hold their weddings.

Where does all that money go? Mostly to the huge guest lists and lavish gifts to one another’s families.

But the most important thing to remember about averages is that they’re just that: averages. Your wedding may or may not fit into the averages comfortably in either direction. And you know what? Whether your wedding is average in cost or not isn’t the most important thing about it. What matters is that you hold the wedding as close to your dreams as you can within the budget you have.

We all know that planning a wedding often runs to money. In fact, for many of us our wedding will be the largest, most complex party we ever throw.

We also all know there are ways of cutting the budget that make a lot of sense… but what about the ones that don’t seem that sensible on the surface? Every once in a while, it turns out the way that looked the most cost-effective isn’t.

Here are a couple ideas you may not think would save you money, but really can if applied thoughtfully as well as a couple cost-saving measures that may not really save you very much at all.
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Sometimes it’s fun to take a gander at the weddings page at the Huffington Post just to see what’s being said there. The information and advice often ranges from the painfully trite to the downright deranged, but there’s also an occasional nugget of bridal goodness to be mined.

For instance, that photo at the top of this entry? That’s Len Kendall. When he decided to pop the big question, he went to Buzzfeed and posted this meme of himself asking Katie the Big Question… and invited his friends to create images in a similar vein to support him. The images include everything from Tim Tebow to Angelina Jolie’s right leg to… stuff I don’t recognize, but still find amusing. About the only one I didn’t see was Princess Beatrice’s hat from last spring’s royal wedding. Then again, I’m guessing the images at Huff Po don’t include every single effort.

BTW, the lady said yes.
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Weddings are expensive, amiright? You know I am!

Flowers, dresses, food, rings, invitations, linens, transportation… it all adds up quickly. It’s not surprising that some people do begin to ask whether it’s all worth it.

In fact, a recent article on The Huffington Post Canada asked just that question. Is a wedding worth the expense?
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We all know that throwing a nice wedding can run to a lot of money. All the same, the overall national average price tag is on a small downward spiral. According to a new study by The Wedding Report, the average wedding budget fell 3.4% in 2011 compared to 2012. When the numbers are adjusted for inflation, the drop is nearly 6%.

Of course, this is an average of a lot of disparate celebrations, and nobody expects anyone to choose how and where to spend their money according to it. Still, some interesting trends do start to stand out.
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(Illustration via Austin Wedding Blog, where you can find instructions for a cute tissue paper cherry blossom centerpiece)
Here at Manolo for the Brides, we’re big fans of the wedding DIY project. Virtually everything I was capable of making for my own wedding, I did make… including the lace for my wedding gown. To me, handmade things give a unique air to an event, and all the moreso when the hands belong to the people giving the shindig.

But not every bride is a DIY diva. Not every bride is good at all the things that go into making a wedding pretty and unique. Not every bride has the time or the inclination to create very much by hand. And you know what? Any one of those things is a good reason to leave the work to the experts and have it done for you.

And then there’s the bride who really wants to make at least one or two things, but isn’t certain what projects to pick. How do you choose what to make for yourself and what to give to a professional to do?

As per usual, I’ve got a few thoughts on the subject.
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Money doesn’t grow on trees. Weddings aren’t necessarily cheap. In fact, the average wedding in the US, according to statistics, costs roughly $26.542 today. That’s a lot of money.

But there’s a funny thing about average statistics: they reflect all weddings and none, not any one specific wedding.
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