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If you're trying to cut costs while planning your wedding, a great place to start is with your location. Depending on which state you choose to celebrate in, it could end up costing you far more — or less — than it would elsewhere.
Wedding website The Knot recently released its annual Real Weddings Study for 2019, which included the 10 U.S. states where it's most affordable to host a wedding. All 50 states were ranked based on the total average wedding cost, including the ceremony, reception and engagement ring.
Here are the 10 states where it costs the least to get married, according to The Knot.
The top four states on the list — Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho — are all located in the western part of the country with total average wedding costs under $20,000. None of the most affordable states are located in the eastern half of the U.S.
Compared to the national average wedding cost, which was $33,900 in 2019, these states typically cost significantly less and may be worth considering if you're planning on a budget.
The Knot's study also looked at which states are the most expensive to host a wedding. The top five most pricey places — New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut — are all located in the Northeast and have total average wedding costs that exceed $40,000.
What to consider before choosing your wedding location
While there are ways to make your wedding more affordable, no matter which state you decide on, location does tend to have "a huge impact on most costs relating to the wedding," says Jackie Courtney, wedding expert and founder of Nearly Newlywed.
In pricey places, "local vendors will almost all cost more due to the inflated costs of living there," Courtney says. Certain expenses, such as the venue, entertainment, food and florals, are impacted by where you choose to hold your ceremony and reception.
"The only things that aren't impacted by location would be hard goods like the wedding dress and wedding rings," Courtney says.
But the good news is that the opposite is true as well. "You could get substantially more and higher quality of some things if you are open to different states or regions," Courtney says.
It's also important to factor the guest count, guest accommodations and travel into your location-cost analysis.
"The more guests, the more expensive a wedding will be anywhere," Courtney says. "But those incremental budget changes are heavily impacted by the regional cost differences. Likewise, the cost it takes for your guests to travel to the wedding and for their accommodations also impacts guest attendance and experience for them."
You should weigh your priorities and decide what your dream wedding looks like. If it's to host a giant wedding with all of your family and friends, it might be worthwhile to look into more affordable options. But if you want to have an intimate affair "with a specific group of people and more premium vendors and services, then it likely won't make as much of a difference," Courtney says.
At the end of the day, "if the state and location is paramount, you can make adjustments elsewhere to keep costs more manageable," Courtney says. "But, if having more guests in attendance is more important, you can then think about what you like about the particular state and try to recreate those elements in a different way somewhere else."
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