The average price of weddings in the United States costs as much as a new car, a home renovation, or a multi-week vacation to Europe. 

Instead of focusing on throwing the best party for their friends, couples should focus their engagement on preparing for the commitment and sacrifice that marriage requires. 

According to the financial technology company Self, 24.5% of couples in the United States spend between $30,001-50,000 on their wedding. The survey also showed 12.3% of couples spend more than $50,000 on their special day.

The wedding industry makes a lot of money by emphasizing one night over the lifetime commitment that a wedding ushers in. But it only does so because of the way people view weddings in the 21st century. While a wedding often used to be a small affair with close friends and family at a church, many weddings are now extravagant parties aimed at showing off. 

An expensive wedding doesn’t guarantee a happy marriage. In fact, it may suggest the opposite. A 2014 Emory University study found that couples who spend more on their wedding day are more likely to get divorced. According to the study, so are couples who purchase more expensive engagement rings. 

Many young girls dream about their wedding days. As teenagers, some girls make Pinterest boards of wedding color schemes and dream rings. While it’s good to celebrate the most important decision of one’s life, it shouldn’t mean a disregard for what this decision means.

The wedding industry makes its money by encouraging the grandeur of a wedding. Pop culture says that a wedding should have party favors, outfit changes, and a guest list of more than 100 people. The wedding industry’s goal is to get you to spend the most amount of money possible and display that spending to your friends and family. But this isn’t the goal of a marriage. A marriage isn’t just a night of drinking and dancing, but a lifetime of love and commitment. 

It is also important to practice financial responsibility before you are married. The wedding planning company Zola, in their 2026 First Look Report, revealed that 88% of couples contribute financially to their own wedding. It isn’t financially smart for a young couple to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding when they could use it for the future. A bit of extra money could even help with later financial troubles. 

Couples need to spend their engagement developing their relationship rather than focusing on throwing the best party of the year. There’s no inherent problem with wanting to have an expensive wedding, but the problem comes when the wedding is overemphasized without consideration for the marriage that comes after. 

Thinking ahead to the future marriage means acknowledging its commitment  and using the money to save instead. If you’re tying the knot, take a step back from the wedding planning and start doing more marriage planning instead. 

Olivia Glisson is a junior studying Spanish.