2018 Q2 Average Cost of Wedding in the U.S. Flat at $25,439

Spending for weddings in Q2 2018 was pretty much flat with a slight decline of .5% from $25,569 in Q1 2018 to $25,439 for Q2 2018. Couples are spending less on service categories like Entertainment, Photography, and Planning, except for Beauty & Spa. While in the product category Invitations saw the biggest increase in spending. But couples aren’t spending more on Invitations themselves, it’s the other wedding stationary items that seem to have had the best performance last quarter.

Consumers in general are spending more, but for reasons that don’t help support the wedding industry. Despite all the great news about the economies performance, gas prices are up along with other goods and services needed for everyday living. And data from BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) shows the personal savings rate dropped 6% and disposable income was down 36% from the previous quarter. In addition, retail sales data from Census Bureau were up only 1.7% over Q1 2018. And the Survey of Consumers from the University of Michigan, points to a decline in both month to month and year over year changes for Consumer Sentiment and Current Economic Conditions. Continued pressure on everyday living could put pressure on spend for weddings in the future, we will continue to monitor the market.

All markets have been updated to reflect their Q2 2018 spending numbers.