If you're the father of the bride, you might want to look for a second job.
The average cost of a wedding is $28,427--and that's if you're lucky. Oh, and that doesn't even count the honeymoon.
It could be worse: Thirteen percent of brides spend more than $40,000 on their wedding, while 23 percent said money was no object and didn't even have a budget.
That's the word from the fourth annual survey by TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com of more than 17,500 U.S. brides who were married in 2012.
Fun facts to know and tell about the average costs of weddings:
Most expensive wedding location: New York City at $76,678
Least expensive wedding location: Alaska at $15,504
Wedding/Event Planner: $2,379
Ceremony site: $1,711
Reception venue: $12,905
Reception band: $3,084
Reception DJ: $988
Photographer: $2,379
Videographer: $1,619
Wedding gown: $1,211
Florist/décor: $1,997
Invitations: $453
Wedding cake: $560
Ceremony musicians: $554
Catering cost per guest: $63
Wedding day transportation: $708
Favors: $289
Rehearsal dinner: $1,135
Engagement ring: $5,431
(These figures are based on respondents who hired a professional vendor for the service.)
Other fun facts to know and tell:
Average number of guests: 139
Average amount spent per guest: $204
Destination weddings: 24 percent
Age of the bride: 29
Age of the groom: 31
Number of bridesmaids and groomsmen: 4 to 5
Average length of the engagement: 14 months
Most popular engagement month: December (16 percent)
Most popular wedding month: June (17 percent)
Most popular wedding colors: blue (33 percent); purple (26 percent); green (23 percent); metallics (23 percent)
Interesting regional differences:
Age: Hawaii has the oldest brides (33 years), compared with Utah, which has the youngest brides (24 years), on average.
Engagements: Middle Atlantic brides have the longest engagements (15.8 months), while brides in East South Central have the shortest (11.9 months), on average.
Wedding Size: On average, Utah brides have the largest number of wedding guests (209), and Nevada brides have the smallest number of wedding guests (64).
Wedding Style: Wyoming has the most casual weddings (39 percent), while Chicago, Illinois has the most formal (black-tie) weddings (44 percent).
Registry: Brides in West North Central are the most likely to register for wedding gifts (94 percent), while Mountain brides are least likely to register (84 percent).
Poll
If you're the father of the bride, you might want to look for a second job.
