Can You Guess the Five Least (and Most) Expensive Places to Get Married?

Written by

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
updated May 3, 2019
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(Image credit: Sveta Yaroshuk)

All it takes is one look at the rent for a one-bedroom apartment to know that costs vary wildly depending on where in the country you happen to be sitting. That might be why, according to The Knot’s 2015 Real Weddings Study released last week, 49% of couples in 2015 were married 200 miles or more from where they lived at the time they were married.

The Knot’s annual study calls upon nearly 18,000 real brides and grooms to candidly share the details of their wedding planning. It’s tough to know if the nearly half of couples having “not quite destination” weddings are doing so because of the rising cost of weddings (as opposed to returning to their hometowns), but the study’s location data is mighty convincing. I mean, I’d pack up and get hitched in Alaska if it meant saving $65,000.

The Knot shared the top five most and least expensive locations with us at Apartment Therapy:

Least Expensive Places to Get Married:

All but one of these locales sees wedding budgets come in under $20K.

  1. Alaska, $17,361
  2. South Dakota, $18,890
  3. Texas – West Texas, $19,261
  4. Arkansas, $19,856
  5. New Mexico, $20,114

Most Expensive Places to Get Married:

Four of the five are in the tri-state area, so you New York brides might want to consider a change of venue. Like maybe to Anchorage.

  1. New York – Manhattan, $82,299
  2. Illinois – Chicago, $61,265
  3. New York – Westchester/Hudson Valley, $57,501
  4. New York – Long Island, $56,950
  5. New Jersey – North/Central, $55,389

You can see more data from The Knot’s 2015 Real Weddings Study here.

The complete guide to modern weddings.