According to www.nationaljewelernetwork.com, the Knot Inc.'s fourth annual Real Weddings Survey revealed that the economy had 2009 brides trimming back on their budgets, albeit only slightly, and that engagement rings remained the second most costly part of the average wedding in the United States.
According to the survey, which polled more than 21,000 U.S. couples who tied the knot between January and December 2009, the average U.S. wedding budget (not including the honeymoon) was $28,385, reflecting a slightly less than 5 percent decrease from 2008.
"As the economy continues to affect consumer spending, brides remain committed to planning a memorable event and are thoughtfully cutting back," The Knot Editor-in-Chief Carley Roney said in a news release. "Approximately one-third of brides who had a wedding in 2009 said that the economy had impacted their overall wedding plans."
While, not surprisingly, the average couple spent the majority of their budget on the reception venue ($12,838), the purchase of the engagement ring ranked second on the wedding expense list, with couples spending an average of $5,847 on their engagement rings, in 2009.
Other big wedding expenses included the reception band ($3,288), the photographer ($2,444) and florist/décor ($2,093).
Couples also dropped an average of $1,728 on a wedding/event planner and brides spent $1,134 on their gowns.
According to the survey, the parents of the bride are contributing somewhat more to the wedding budget due to the challenging economy, with 46 percent kicking in for the event, up 4.5 percent over 2008. Meanwhile, the bride and groom contribute 40 percent of the budget and the groom's parents pitch in 12 percent.
Breaking down the data on a region-by-region basis, the couples most likely to break the bank for their big day reside in New York City and one of its key suburbs, Long Island, where the average wedding spend was $56,999 and $55,877 respectively.
Arkansas has the lowest wedding budget at $15,073, followed by Idaho and Utah, where couples spent an average of $15,276 and $16,030 respectively.
Northeast brides have the longest engagements, an average of 15 months, while brides from Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi have the shortest at 12 months.
The average engagement in 2009 was 13.4 months, according to the survey. December is the most popular month to get engaged and June is the most popular month to have a wedding.
The survey also showed that the biggest weddings in terms of number of guests are in Iowa and Nebraska, where couples have more than 200 people share in their big day. The smallest are in Hawaii (96) and Las Vegas (68), largely due to the high proportion of destination weddings in these locations.
Overall, couples surveyed had an average of 149 guests, nearly the same as in 2008, and had an average of five bridesmaids and five groomsmen per wedding.
