Illinois’s Average Wedding Cost Will Make You Say “I Don’t”

We're going into wedding season and brides all over are ready to vomit at the price tags of getting hitched.

There's a reason I've always planned on eloping with my non-existent fiancé, and that would be the price of a wedding. I've been privy to enough of my friends' wedding planning struggles to know that you will have to pay for stuff you didn't even think about. Napkins? Scan that credit card. Transportation? Gratuities and taxes? Setup and cleanup fees? Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.

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The popular wedding website The Knot (where couples post manifestos about how they met on their personalized pages) looked at the average costs of weddings in every state in 2022, and Illinois... sheesh.

Illinois Is Paying A Lot Of Money For Weddings

Remember, what's not factored into this number are things like the engagement ring (which averaged $6,000) or any marriage legal fees. This is the ceremony and elements of the reception. No matter if it's the couple themselves paying for it or if it's on the family, the price tag of the happiest day of the couple's lives is steep.

Illinois's average wedding cost is $37,000.

For the most part, your price tag comes down to how many vendors you want. There's the photographer, the videographer, the DJ, the wedding planner, the live band, the florist, the cake, the catering, the transportation, the favors, the hairstylist, and the makeup artist. That's not to mention the venue, the dress, the favors, or the invitations.

But across the board, the most expensive part is generally the reception venue.

Not including that $6,000 engagement ring, the costs are stacked like this. The live band averages about $3,900. The average costs for the photographer, florist, and cake all average around $2,500, give or take a bit.

And obviously, the more guests you have at your wedding, the more stuff you'll be paying for. The average cost of catering per guest was $75.

It also depends on where you get married. If you have a destination wedding, The Knot found that it could be slightly more expensive than getting married in your hometown.

While Illinois's average wedding cost is definitely a steep price tag, it's hardly the worst in the nation. That honor belongs to New Jersey, who averaged a wedding cost of $51,000.