How much does a wedding cost?

What couples spent on their weddings

For Ireland and Australia, the per-guest figure is the average divided by the guest count. The UK has a second large survey: Hitched puts the average at £21,990 and £272 per guest, from 2,020 couples who married in 2025. Canada has no annual study of this size. RBC's figure for 2025 weddings is the best current number we found, so treat the Canadian estimate as rougher than the others.

How the estimate works

Some costs grow with every guest: the meal, the drinks, the favors. Others stay flat, because a photographer charges the same for 60 guests or 160. The calculator multiplies the first kind by your guest count and adds the second.

For the United States, Simple, Typical and Upscale use what The Knot found couples in its lower, middle and upper budget quartiles spent on each item. The other surveys publish averages only, so for the UK, Ireland and Australia Typical starts from the national average for each item, and Simple and Upscale apply the spread The Knot measured between its quartiles and the US average in the same category. Where a local source gives a range, we used it instead: Irish venue prices per head and Australian bomboniere. Items with no tier data, such as rings and stationery, stay the same in every style. Canada uses the price ranges in RBC's source, Your Wedding Atlas.

For the UK, Ireland and Canada, the category figures are scaled so that Typical, at the default guest count, matches the national average from Bridebook, weddingsonline and RBC. Without that step the line items add up to more than the average in the UK and Canada, and less in Ireland, where the estimate leaves out the planner, the car and accommodation.

In the US and Australia, Typical lands a little above the national average. Each category average comes from couples who booked that service, and plenty of couples skip one or two. Leave out the videographer or the band and the number drops toward the average.

Where the money goes

Venue and food come first everywhere. Bridebook found that venue hire and catering take 51% of a UK budget, and Easy Weddings puts the reception venue alone at 46% of an Australian one.

What venue prices include

Compare quotes on the same basis, because venues in each country price differently.

• United States: The Knot reports the venue, catering and alcohol as separate costs. Catering averaged $80 a person, from $62 in the Midwest to $123 in the Mid-Atlantic. Couples spent $2,800 on alcohol, and The Knot estimates $15 to $45 a guest.
• United Kingdom: Bridebook's £6,040 is venue hire without catering. Add the wedding breakfast and the evening food and a venue that looks cheap on hire can end up mid-priced.
• Ireland: 55% of couples marry in a hotel, and the survey's venue spend matches its 141 guests at €107 a head. Image.ie found packages from about €79 a head, and €120 to €250 or more at exclusive-use venues. Accommodation is extra.
• Australia: the calculator spreads the A$17,518 venue figure over the average 85 guests (about A$206 a head), so it grows with your list.
• Canada: RBC puts food at $75 to $100 a guest, and up to $200 for a plated formal dinner.

Costs that catch couples out

In the US, The Knot's average leaves out the rehearsal dinner ($2,800) and the engagement ring ($4,600). In Ireland, 63% of couples in the 2025 weddingsonline survey paid for their parents' hotel rooms and 48% for the wedding party's. UK couples who book a toastmaster spend £514 on average. Australian bomboniere are modest: 44% of couples spend under A$5 a guest.

Going over budget is common. More than half of UK couples (56%) did, according to Hitched, and 45% in Ireland (weddingsonline). Australian couples ended up 23% over on average (Easy Weddings).

Regional differences

• United States: New Jersey averages $57,000 and Wyoming $17,000. A New York City wedding averages $88,000.
• United Kingdom: London leads at £26,986, Scotland follows at £22,987, and the North West of England is lowest at £17,342.
• Australia: New South Wales averages A$42,322 and Tasmania A$25,423.
• Canada: RBC says weddings in cities with expensive venues, like Toronto or Vancouver, can cost upwards of 25% more.

Legal fees

The paperwork is the cheapest part, and the only part you can't skip.

• United States: license fees and waiting periods are set by each state or county, so check with your county clerk. Officiants cost $260 on average.
• England and Wales: giving notice costs £46.50 per person (£63 if you are subject to immigration control) and a ceremony in the register office's statutory room £62, from April 2026. Councils set their own prices for ceremonies at approved venues: Milton Keynes charges £703.50 to £777 in 2026/27. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fees.
• Ireland: the HSE notification fee is €200, non-refundable.
• Australia: a celebrant costs A$1,031 on average.
• Canada: licence fees are set locally. Toronto charges $180.

How couples bring the cost down

The guest list matters most. The Knot found that weddings with up to 50 guests cost $17,100 on average, 51 to 100 guests $27,200, and over 100 guests $43,300. Australian couples invited 23 fewer guests than they first planned.

The date helps too. US weddings from January to March and October to December averaged $33,200, against $35,400 from July to September. Bridebook names January, February and October as the cheapest UK months, along with weekdays and register office ceremonies. A quarter of UK couples spend £10,000 or less.

Try it above: drop the guest count by 20 and watch the per-guest lines shrink.

Not included: honeymoon and engagement ring

The calculator covers the wedding day only. Honeymoons averaged $5,500 in the US, €5,393 in Ireland and A$9,684 in Australia, and engagement rings $4,600, €3,069 and A$6,842.

From estimate to budget

Once you have a number, put dates on the work with the wedding checklist. The paperwork has its own guides: the US marriage license, with fees and waiting periods state by state, and giving notice of marriage in the UK. When the deposits start going out, the estimate turns into a budget: Wedding Harmony tracks what you have spent against it.