Fun Facts About Weddings & Honeymoons

Have you ever wondered how many weddings are performed each year in the U.S. or the median age of first-time brides and grooms? How about the leading destination for weddings? What is the favorite month of the year for weddings? Do you know what the most popular honeymoon destination is in the U.S.?

Well, just for fun, we gathered statistics from various industry sources to come up with facts and figures related to weddings and honeymoons.

The Proposal

99 percent of grooms do the proposing, which means that 1 percent of the brides have to take control and get the engagement started.

December is a popular month for proposals with 16 percent taking place in that month.

14 months is the average length of an American engagement, which is good because you need that amount of time for all the planning and decisions to be made.

The average cost of a diamond engagement ring is more than $6,000.

And unfortunately, 13% of engagements do not end in a wedding.

The Wedding

June is the most popular month for weddings, followed by August, May and July.

There is an average of 2.4 million weddings performed in the U.S. and the annual spend on weddings is $72 billion.

Average age for first time brides is 27 years, while average age for grooms is 29.

Almost $30,000 is the average amount spent on a traditional American wedding and the average number of guests at weddings is 165.

Weekends are a very popular time for weddings with more than 44,000 on average take place, and only 33% of weddings take place in a religious institution.

A friend or family member will officiate a wedding 43% of the time.

The cost of the wedding is paid 19% of the time by the bride’s parents, 32% of the time by the brides and grooms, and in 15% of the weddings the cost is shared between the couples and both sets of parents.

The Gifts

91 percent of couples sign-up for gift registries and the gifts purchased through wedding registries account for $19 billion.

$70 to $100 is the range for the average amount spent on a wedding gift.

The Location

24 percent of marriages are conducted as destination weddings.

The average budget for a destination wedding is $28,000 and 60% of couples pay for their destination wedding.

33 is the average age of the bride at a destination wedding.

On average, there will be 48 guests at a destination wedding and they will spend an average of almost $700 to attend.

Weather is a key factor for 90% of the couples when they select the destination for their wedding.

Las Vegas is the leading location for destination weddings, followed by Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. Mexico and Florida are also desirable locations.

Over the year, cruise ship weddings have become very popular as a destination wedding.

The Honeymoon

Couples that have a destination wedding spend more than $8,000 on average for their honeymoon, which is one-third more than those that have traditional weddings.

99% of traditional wedding couples take a honeymoon.

The estimated number of U.S. couples that take a honeymoon each year is 1.4 million, and the honeymoon industry is $12 billion per year.

On average, honeymoons are booked 4 months prior to the wedding.

The average honeymoon lasts eight days and the average amount spent by couples is over $4,000. The average amount doubles for luxury honeymoons lasting 11 days on average.

14 percent of wedding budgets go to the honeymoon.

63 percent of honeymoons take place in foreign countries; 37 percent are to U.S. locations; 10 percent are cruises.

The most popular honeymoon destinations for the U.S. include Hawaii, Florida, California, and Nevada.

Popular overseas honeymoons take place in Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas, Italy, St. Lucia, France, and US Virgin Islands.

Luxury honeymoon destinations take place in Europe, Caribbean, Hawaii, and South Pacific.

Only 1 in 4 couples go on what they consider to be their dream honeymoon.

For assistance in planning and reserving your cruise wedding, contact Margaret Waller at 847-825-7761 or margaret.waller@cruiseplanners.com.

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Margaret Waller

Margaret combines her years of travel experience and passion for dream vacations to help clients get the most out of theirs. She provides thoughtfulness, patience, and careful attention to details in planning and accomplishing every client’s needs and desires for new and exciting vacation opportunities. Whether it is a luxurious cruise, relaxing resort and spa, or an adventurous escape from day-to-day lives, Margaret goes above and beyond to help turn vacation dreams into reality.