Average Engagement Ring

I came across some survey statistics today that might be interesting to those of you engaged and planning a wedding.  The headline focused on the average cost of engagement rings, but the article has stats on wedding spending in general.  One interesting stat was that San Antonio made it into the list for most expensive places to get married.  At 17th in the list we were not at the top, but we should be proud to be on there, or not!  However you look at it, the average cost for the engagement ring is what interested me.  At $5,130 that can be a pretty big chunk of money for the future groom.

Let me know what you think in the comments, a lot for an engagement ring or not?

What is the average cost for a wedding in Austin/San Antonio?

There seems to be no shortage of surveys on wedding costs these days.  I posted back in Feb on the current rise of spending for weddings.  If you are looking for an estimate on your wedding there is info out there for that as well.  Today I came across an article regarding the average cost of weddings in the Austin San Antonio area and it falls in line with other sources.  At $26,984 the area outpaces the nation by a small percentage, but that could be attributed to the couples responding to the survey.

What do you think?  Does this sound like a feasible average for a wedding in the area?  Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Wedding spending is on the rise

Numbers have just been released by TheWeddingReport.com that indicates wedding spending is rebounding from the economic downturn.  After hitting an all time high average cost in 2007 of $28,730, the economy and spending habits took its toll on wedding spending.  By 2009 the average spending had dropped to $19,580.  Current data shows spending is on the rise with average spending in 2010 of $24,070 for a wedding.  As would be expected the increase is across the board for services and vendors.

What is your wedding going to cost?

Any idea what the average cost is for a wedding in your area?  How about the cost for a photographer?  Cost of Wedding helps answer these questions.  A quick search shows the average cost for a wedding in San Antonio is between $15k and 25k.  These numbers are based on couples’ spending rather than vendor pricing, with well experienced professionals running as much as %50 to %100 more. I know, that is great if you are the average couple with an average wedding, so how do you get a handle on the budget.

Cost of Wedding also has a Wedding Cost Estimator that will take all your input on the details and spit out a customized cost calculation.  Once your customized budget is created you have the option to create a printable list or download the results to Excel for later reference.  Because the data is driven off your zip code the information is relevant for the market where your wedding will take place.

The ability to break down costs by vendor gives the user flexibility in targeting the areas that are most important. As I have talked about before it is important for the bride and groom to determine the areas that are most important in terms of priority.

So how did I compare against the database?  My pricing falls in line with other photographers for my experience level.  Since I am not a well experienced wedding photographer, although I pretend to be one on the weekends, the pricing outlined was in line with my rates.  At $1,266 to $2,110 the pricing hits right at my current pricing for my medium range and top end collections.

Average Wedding Cost

Want to know the average cost for a wedding in your area?  Jump over to Cost of Wedding and type in your zip code.  You will not only get a total cost range but a breakdown for all the various categories.