--- title: 10 Most Expensive Places to Get Married description: Destination wedding in Utah, anyone? authors: - name: Jackie Zimmermann url: https://money.com/author/jackie-zimmermann/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 22 covers: - Lifestyle - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Personal Finance - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/jackie_zm former_staff: true published: '2015-04-14T10:30:49.000Z' modified: '2024-05-07T09:11:38.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Budgeting - Family - theknot.com - Weddings word_count: 584 canonical: https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![wedding in NYC](https://img.money.com/2015/04/150414_ff_weddinglocations.jpg) As wedding season starts to ramp up, brides across the country are debating the practicality of ball gowns and the lasting implications of lilies versus roses. But even the most budget-concious bride is stuck with one wedding detail she has little control over—location. Only 24% of weddings are "destination" weddings, leaving bride and grooms at the mercy of their local economies. TheKnot.com's annual [Real Weddings Survey](http://www.xogroupinc.com/press-releases-home/2015-press-releases/2015-03-12-the-knot-2014-real-weddings-study.aspx)—which surveyed 16,000 brides and grooms who got married in 2014— gives us an idea of wedding costs across the country. (One caveat: These are average, not median prices, and the website's membership of dedicated brides almost certainly [skews the data higher](http://www.slate.com/articles/life/weddings/2013/06/average_wedding_cost_published_numbers_on_the_price_of_a_wedding_are_totally.html).) Still, the regional comparisons are noteworthy. With a few outliers, the Northeast takes the wedding cake for the priciest place to get hitched, while couples in the South and Midwest have a little more wiggle room in their budgets. Venues are by far the biggest expense; in all but one of the top ten locales, the room costs more than $20,000. And brides in Idaho are the most budget-concious about dresses; Manhattan brides spend nearly three times as much on their gowns. **Top 10 Most Expensive Places to Get Married** 1. New York - Manhattan $76,328 - Venue: $30,401 - Photographer: $4,591 - Floral & Decor: $4,682 - Catering (cost per head): $181 - Dress: $2,914 2. New York - Long Island $55,327 - Venue: $25,671 - Photographer: $4,285 - Floral & Decor: $3,384 - Catering (cost per head): $116 - Dress: $2,137 3. New Jersey - North/Central $53,986 - Venue: $25,501 - Photographer: $3,693 - Floral & Decor: $3,043 - Catering (cost per head): $129 - Dress: $1,881 4. New York - Westchester/Hudson Valley $52,954 - Venue: $24,287 - Photographer: $3,870 - Floral & Decor: $3,188 - Catering (cost per head): $126 - Dress: $1,995 5. Chicago $50,934 - Venue: $21,803 - Photographer: $3,093 - Floral & Decor: $3,014 - Catering (cost per head): $109 - Dress: $1,794 6. New York - Outer Boroughs $49,781 - Venue: $24,362 - Photographer: $3,641 - Floral & Decor: $2,900 - Catering (cost per head): $121 - Dress: $1,826 7. Philadelphia $44,090 - Venue: $20,351 - Photographer: $3,306 - Floral & Decor: $2,718 - Catering (cost per head): $109 - Dress: $1,668 8. Rhode Island $41,914 - Venue: $22,371 - Photographer: $3,101 - Floral & Decor: $2,486 - Catering (cost per head): $97 - Dress: $1,486 9. San Francisco/Greater Bay Area $39,690 - Venue: $18,381 - Photographer: $3,105 - Floral & Decor: $2,561 - Catering (cost per head): $77 - Dress: $1,595 10. New Jersey - South $39,191 - Venue: $21,417 - Photographer: $2,927 - Floral & Decor: $2,094 - Catering (cost per head): $99 - Dress: $1,428 **Top 10 Least Expensive Places to Get Married** 1. Utah - $15,257 - Venue: $5,346 - Photographer: $1,650 - Floral & Decor: $1,044 - Catering (cost per head): $33 - Dress: $1,135 2. Arkansas - $18,031 - Venue: $6,101 - Photographer: $1,882 - Floral & Decor: $1,766 - Catering (cost per head): $36 - Dress: $1,213 3. North Dakota/South Dakota - $18,314 - Venue: $6,095 - Photographer: $2,087 - Floral & Decor: $1,533 - Catering (cost per head): $29 - Dress: $1,050 4. Oklahoma - $18,629 - Venue: $7,214 - Photographer: $1,802 - Floral & Decor: $1,924 - Catering (cost per head): $41 - Dress: $1,019 5. Idaho - $19,040 - Venue: $6,446 - Photographer: $1,915 - Floral & Decor: $1,800 - Catering (cost per head): $34 - Dress: $982 6. Oregon - $19,205 - Venue: $7,136 - Photographer: $1,985 - Floral & Decor: $1,262 - Catering (cost per head): $45 - Dress: $1,017 7. Illinois - Central $20,210 - Venue: $7,926 - Photographer: $2,063 - Floral & Decor: $1,500 - Catering (cost per head): $35 - Dress: $1,054 8. Mississippi $20,601 - Venue: $7,625 - Photographer: $2,045 - Floral & Decor: $2,667 - Catering (cost per head): $35 - Dress: $1,138 9. West Texas - $20,905 - Venue: $6,864 - Photographer: $1,771 - Floral & Decor: $1,770 - Catering (cost per head): $37 - Dress: $1,177 10. West Virginia - $20,671 - Venue: $8,856 - Photographer: $2,108 - Floral & Decor: $1,455 - Catering (cost per head): $39 - Dress: $1,043 ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Places to Travel", "item": "https://money.com/places-to-travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "10 Most Expensive Places to Get Married" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/", "name": "10 Most Expensive Places to Get Married", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-04-14T10:30:49.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-07T09:11:38.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "10 Most Expensive Places to Get Married", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/04/150414_ff_weddinglocations.jpg", "width": 6144, "height": 4096, "caption": "150414_FF_WeddingLocations" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jackie Zimmermann", "url": "https://money.com/author/jackie-zimmermann/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/jackie-zimmermann/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/jackie_zm" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-04-14T10:30:49.000Z", "description": "Destination wedding in Utah, anyone?", "abstract": "Destination wedding in Utah, anyone?", "@id": "https://money.com/top-ten-most-expensive-places-to-get-married/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-07T09:11:38.000Z", "wordCount": 584, "keywords": [ "Budgeting", "Family", "theknot.com", "Weddings" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "World Tourism rankings", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings" ] } ] } ] } ```