Most Expensive Places To Get Married

When it comes time to plan your wedding, and figure out your wedding budget, one major factor to consider is where you get married.  If you would like to get married in a popular tourist city or large metropolitan area, chances are you will be paying top dollar for your venues, services and amenities.

Before signing the contract for your ceremony and/or reception venue, and locking yourself into a location, look at the list below.  Based on the average wedding spend in 2011, these are the top 20 most expensive places in the U.S. to get married (so avoid these areas!).

1. NYC (Manhattan): $65,824

2. Chicago, IL: $53,069

3. NY Metro (Long Island, Hudson Valley and NYC Outer Boroughs): $50,087, $46,560, $40,356

4. Northern/Central NJ and Southern NJ: $46,600, $38,103

5. Rhode Island: $41,307

6. Santa Barbara/Ventura, CA, and Los Angeles, CA: $37,823, $37,690

7. Philadelphia, PA: $37,014

8. Boston, MA: $35,560

9. Southern Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and surrounding areas): $34,465

10. Washington, DC, Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland: $34,203

11. Connecticut: $33,789

12. Baltimore, MD: $32,702

13. Northern, CA, San Diego, CA, and Orange County/Inland Empire, CA: $32,261, $30,482, $29,826

14. Hawaii: $31,461

15. Pittsburgh, PA: $29,703

16. Louisiana: $28,790

17. Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, and Austin/San Antonio, TX: $28,717, $27,459, $27,735

18. California/Nevada (Sacramento, Tahoe and Reno): $28,028

19. Lehigh Valley/Poconos, PA: $27,339

20. Detroit, MI: $27,017

Statistics provided by the Real Wedding Survey- a survey conducted by TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com of 18,000 brides, over 18 years of age, who wed in the United States in 2011.