photo credit: Manassas Cakery
What is the average cost of a wedding in the U.S.? According to a Smart Money article “They’ll Never Know: Eight Hidden Ways to Cut Wedding Costs” Richard Markel, president of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, states the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is now between $21,000 and $24,000. Costs will also vary, depending on your zip code. I could imagine that you could add several thousand more for a zip code such as 90210. With the average wedding costing $21,000, do you have a savings account for your children’s wedding? Might seem silly to you, but this is a major life event for your family, and could be costly by the time your child marries.
I was motivated to do some research about wedding costs after I read an article in Money magazine about the Gunns: “One family: In search of a simpler life”. One of the asset categories listed was daughter’s wedding fund. I looked back at the picture on the previous page and one of the daughter’s appeared to be in diapers. I believe they have 3 daughters, no wonder they have a wedding fund. Thinking about my daughter’s wedding, before she enters Kindergarten, seems like a giant leap. Maybe it shouldn’t be.
$21,000 for an average wedding in 2008. My daughter is 4 years old in 2008, what about 2028. I’ll use our wedding age as an example. My wife and I were married when we were 24 years old. We’ll use the base rate of $21,000 for a wedding in 2008 and 20 years until my daughter is married. Again, this is hypothetical, but useful for calculating costs. I found a wonderful tool to calculate historical inflation at Inflation data.com. Again, I used historical data when my wife was 4 years old in 1976, and our marriage year of 1996, to calculate an inflation rate of 177.7. Using this rate, A $21,000 wedding in 2008 would now cost $37,170 in 2028. How much money do I need to save each month to cover a wedding at $37,170? I need to set aside $154.88 a month.
Some ideas for saving money for a daughters wedding:
1. Start now. Just like saving for retirement or college, a wedding account will grow over time.
2. Figure out your budget and have a conversation with your spouse. Just because you and your wife had a cheap wedding, doesn’t mean your wife wants the same for your daughter. Maybe you believe the costs should be placed on your kids, have a plan.
3. Open a separate savings account. Have a separate account, and treat it like a retirement account. Don’t borrow from your daughter’s wedding account, for that trip to Disneyland.
4. Be consistent. Have money taken directly from your checking account and placed into your wedding account. You should be consistent with your retirement account and emergency account too.
5. What if your daughter never gets married. Congratulations, you now have $37,170 to do whatever you want!
Are you surprised by the average cost of a wedding? Would you plan on spending more or less than this on your daughter’s wedding? Have you started a savings account for your daughter’s wedding?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
BIG SIGH! I have three daughters! My oldest is about to go to college next year and I’m still working on that savings (yea, better late than never!). It is all too much to think about! She’ll be ready to get married before I recover from the college finances. Good article though… gave me something to think about and add to my financial to-do list. I’d like to have something saved for my son as well just in case his fiance can’t afford a “nice” wedding.
That’s a crazy amount of money though… there are several people who I’ve seen spend way less and still have a nice wedding. Takes a lot of planning, shopping, etc., in advance.