Congratulations, you’re getting married! You’re probably already thinking about where to hold the wedding, what your dress will look like, the guest list, and all of the other exciting details involved at the planning stage.
Weddings are fun and memorable, but they require careful financial planning. To help you plan as carefully as possible, you should know the cost of the average wedding in Canada is today.
Take a Guess
The majority of Canadian couples have an interesting idea of what the average wedding cost in Canada is right now. Lowest guesses start at $15,000, but the truth is, the average is upwards of $30,000. Why is there such a gap between expectation and reality? People tend to forget about the smaller details, and the grand total for a wedding usually includes everything—from the ring right up to the honeymoon.
What else has pushed the price tag of a Canadian wedding? Reality television shows and Pinterest boards play a small part, highlighting fun, trendy features while hiding the total. Remember, those photos and shows are professionally staged and cost a pretty penny. Weddings with cultural or religious factors are also more expensive, generally involving additional events and extra costs.
So where does that $30,000 go? Studies use an average guest list of 120 friends and family members. You should expect the venue and catering cost to take up the largest chunk of the budget, followed by photography, hair and makeup, decorations, linens, and other ends.
The average wedding today is expensive—there’s no getting around that. To understand the true cost of a wedding, divide up each part of that day. This will give you the big picture of how much you have to spend and how to make the most of your budget. You can make any budget work, as long as you are flexible and realistic.
Where to Cut
With costs so high, how does any Canadian couple afford a wedding? A ‘reasonable’ cost varies across couples. Fortunately though, there are many ways to lower the total and make smart budget plans.
Stag and does have become a popular option for couples: these fun-filled parties allow couples to raise money from friends, family, and members of their community. Going digital with invitations is another option, cutting costs and delivering invites via email instead of snail mail, with some paper copies allotted for the less tech-savvy guests. Other couples opt for fun desserts, which are already included in the catering fee, or they commission friends who are bakers, instead of going through a bakery to save costs on the sweet stuff.
Brides may plan the budget around expected dress costs, knowing there’s less money to spend elsewhere. Many brides today ask that their bridesmaids wear dresses of the same colour, adding some flexibility to the cost. Inexpensive decorations are popular alternatives that still look marvelous, such as silk flowers instead of real ones, and DIY crafts instead of purchasing premade centerpieces.
Another simple way to keep costs down is by getting creative with anything “trendy” that appears to be a must-have at today’s weddings. For example, you can still offer fun photo ops for your guests with some simple props and Bluetooth photo printers, saving on the cost of an official photobooth.
Your Day Will Still Be Perfect!
With the average wedding cost in Canada so high, Canadians seem to be more understanding that the ideal, dream wedding is out of reach, but many are still willing to go over budget to get the wedding they want. Saturday weddings, for example, which are also the most expensive day to book, continue to be the most popular choice. It’s possible to still eliminate small costs and get the wedding you want.
Take an accurate look at your finances and let that guide your wedding planning. You can still have the wedding you want, and there’s nothing wrong with a few substitutions. Don’t let that magic “$15,000” average fool you. This shortsighted vision won’t go far in planning your wedding. Use what you’ve learned here to plan the wedding you want that will set you up right for your new life as a married couple.
