The business behind marriage

As marriage costs rise and the market becomes saturated, wedding tendencies are set to change.

The overall cost of a wedding —and its trends— have soared to new heights.

According to the 10th annual The Knot 2016 Real Weddings Study, the average cost of getting married in the US hit $35,329 during 2016, increasing by $2,688 from last year.

However, that is not the only thing changing in the wedding industry, as experts say the market faces saturation.

Casual dresses, online shopping, signature elements, technology, among other things, have become growing tendencies.

A growing competition

David’s Bridal, one of the largest bridal retailers in the U.S., has battled competing with online retailers and cheaper dresses.

Anne Chertoff, wedding industry consultant, told Business Insider what she thinks David´s Bridal must do to pick up on the industry.

“David’s Bridal would need to continue making significant investments in digital capabilities and marketing in order to reverse its market share declines of the past several years,” she said. “These investments are needed to attract the bride early in her online-first research process and then provide a seamless bricks-and-clicks shopping experience.”

Marriage tendencies for the future

As nearly 13,000 US brides and grooms married in 2016 were surveyed to uncover the financial spending habits and trends of real weddings in America, these were some of the key findings:

• Custom guest entertainment has more than tripled from 11% to 41% since 2009, with photo booths (78%), games (18%), musical performances (12%) and fireworks (8%) being the most popular options.
• Most Expensive Place to Get Married: Manhattan, $78,464 average spend.
• Least Expensive Place to Get Married: Arkansas, $19,522 average spend.
• Average Spent on a Wedding Dress: $1,564.
• Average Marrying Age: Bride, 29 ; Groom, 31.
• Average Number of Guests: 141.
• Average Number of Bridesmaids: 5.
• Average Number of Groomsmen: 5.
• Most Popular Month to Get Engaged: December (15%).
• Average Length of Engagement: 15 months.

As for other matters, location and season trends have also evolved.

Follow up more on the matter on the complete research from XO Group Inc.