Money Monday: How Much Is The Average Wedding in L.A.?

Posted: March 15, 2016

Photo: istock.com, Jason_Lee_Hughs via GoBankRates

A few years ago I taught a live class called “The Recession Bride’s Workshop”, teaching couples how to save money on their weddings at every step in the process. I’ve been transcribing the audio for about a week, because my plan is to update it into a webinar or another seminar later this spring. Oh, man, transcription takes a long time! I decided to do some research to find out the “official” cost of a wedding in Los Angeles, and came across two articles that were really interesting. Value Penguin lists the average cost of a L.A. wedding as $36,890 or $267 per person. Which sounds about right, for the kind of wedding most couples (or at the very least mine) are going for. You can pay less, of course, and you can way, way, more. But if you’re thinking of one of these: specialty linens, chiavari chairs, a photo booth and/or a candy buffet for 100 guests, that’s about what you’re throwing down. Nationally, Value Penguin has the cost at $29,858.

Go Bank Rates bumps that average to $31,213. What I love about their breakdown is that it goes into exactly how your guest count impacts how much your wedding costs. Less guests, less cost, just in case you didn’t infer that from the $267 per person. There are also some good tips on how to save money on your wedding, some of which work better in real life than others do. You can rent a sound system and hook it up to an iPod, but you need someone monitoring the music, or it’s not going to work. email invites or affordable box invitations from Target, yes. Expecting to save loads of money by negotiating with your vendors, not so much. Asking your friend to officiate? My Altar Boss would object, but Okay. Asking your non-pro friend to photograph your wedding? Umm…

Like I said, my new budget wedding workshop will be later this Spring. If you’re interested in find out when, sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll be the first to know. Plus, you’ll also get my wedding planning cheat sheet, “Ten Wedding Hacks you can start using right now. ” Enjoy!

See you at the end of the aisle,

Liz Coopersmith