From flowers to venues, seemingly everything gets a price markup when it's for a wedding

Here's why weddings are so expensive

Anyone who has planned a wedding knows firsthand how shockingly expensive things like flowers or a live band can be. This article from the wedding experts at The Knot breaks down why, exactly, weddings cost so much. Plus, it explains the truth behind the so-called “wedding tax.” Read the article to learn more.

The term 'wedding tax' is often used to refer to the extra money that many wedding industry suppliers charge

According to wedding vendors, the "wedding tax"—the additional money charged for goods and services specifically intended for a wedding rather than another type of event—stems from the increased amount of time and attention that someone like a florist or makeup artist spends on a wedding versus any other type of event. Unlike other events, weddings are often planned a year or more in advance and require more detailed planning and hours of communication.

Wedding photographers and other vendors have tailored their services to social media in recent years

In this podcast interview with Xochitl Gonzalez—a former luxury wedding planner who wrote the viral The Fake Poor Bride article in 2023—you'll learn a lot about how the wedding-industrial complex has evolved over the past few years and how modern additions, such as the rise of wedding styling services for "wedding weeks," have driven costs up.

The wedding industry is a roughly $200B global market

That market is shaped by both tradition and commercial influence. In the US, couples spend an average of $35K on a wedding, while Indian weddings range from $5K to more than $100K. Despite rising costs, weddings remain a deeply emotional tradition, celebrating love and human connection.

Wedding cost increases have outpaced inflation

The cost of the average US wedding rose by 13.79% between 2023 and 2024, whereas the inflation rate during the same time period was roughly 2.9%.

A wedding cost calculator

Want to know how much your wedding will cost? Simply enter your wedding date, location, and a few more details about your wedding plans, and this tool will spit out an estimate for how much it will all cost—with details on how each estimate was figured, from a wedding dress or tux to ordering the cake. If you're planning a wedding soon (or just dreaming about planning one), explore this wedding cost generator.

A group of 88 kindergarteners creates heartfelt centerpieces defining what love is for their teacher's wedding

Ahead of her big day, a kindergarten teacher came up with an idea to have her students help decorate her wedding tables. Teachers prompted their students to fill out the prompt "love is…" and found that the children shared a variety of heartfelt responses.

Ghost weddings used to be more common

Ghost weddings are marriages between two deceased parties, or one living and one dead partner. They satisfy departed family members’ needs for companionship and peace in the afterlife, according to Chinese spiritual beliefs. Unfortunately, since ghost marriages are pricey and can include the mingling of mortal remains, murderers and grave robbers have, at times, sought to supply spouses through nefarious means.

The world's weirdest flowers

We mostly marvel at the beauty of flowers, but some kinds of flowers are incredibly weird. This video highlights 15 of the world's strangest flowers, from the massive Titan Arum to the rare Lady Slipper Orchid.

Identical twin brothers marry twin sisters in double wedding—and honeymoon together

The couples exchanged vows back-to-back, allowing the brothers to serve as each other's best men, and the sisters to jump in as the maids of honor for one another. The pairs all met in a church youth group while students.Following their wedding, the couples planned to live in neighboring apartments.

Marriage is a legally and socially sanctioned union

Marriage's definition may seem simple—a union of two or more people who join their lives together in a culturally appropriate fashion. However, elaborate customs and diverse expectations dictate the roles spouses will play for one another. Across different regions and periods, marriages have taken a great number of forms.

Are hotels cheaper than Airbnbs?

When Airbnb first became popular, it was seen as a cheaper alternative to staying at a hotel. But these days, depending on factors such as how many people you're traveling with and how long your trip is, Airbnb isn't always the less expensive option. To figure out which form of lodging might be cheaper for your next vacation, read this article.

The prices on prediction markets reflect how the collective forecasts future outcomes

On prediction markets, bettors bid up or down the price of contracts based on what they expect an event's outcome to be. Bettors bid up prices when they think an event is more likely to occur than the current contract price shows, so they buy the contracts, pushing the price higher. They bid down prices by selling these contracts when they believe an event is less likely to occur, driving the price down due to supply and demand.

Some ads help create ‘symbolic value’ for products

A Rolex watch and a watch from the Dollar Store serve the same purpose: helping the wearer tell the time. But a Rolex is worth thousands of dollars while the Dollar Store watch is costs $1 because of symbolic value, or what the watch says about its wearer. This article helps break down the difference between the two.

How a cut flower goes from a Colombian farm to a US vase in under 72 hours

The flower industry operates a complex logistical relay to move flowers to distant markets. Blooms are harvested before opening, chilled immediately, auctioned, and air-freighted to retailers before they are fully in bloom.

Soda is one of the most overpriced items at restaurants

All restaurant food is marked up—that's how they turn profits, after all—but soda is one of the most egregious. Fountain soda is remarkably cheap, with restaurants often paying a few cents for each glass before selling it for a few dollars. Food publication The Takeout estimates that the typical markup is around 1,000%.

Read about different levels of price discrimination

Price discrimination is a business practice in which different customers are charged different prices for the same product or service. It's one way for a business to boost profits and take advantage of its market position. There are three levels of price discrimination, differentiated by the consumers targeted and the reasons for discrimination.

'Buy one, get one free' is a clever way to get you to spend more money

One Burger King diner recently saw the price of her $2.16 sandwich rise to $3.19 per sandwich when she used a buy-one-get-one-free (or BOGO) coupon. Naturally, she became suspicious about how good a deal BOGO really is. This video explains why BOGO deals are a way for companies to get you to spend more money, rather than less.

Pay transparency 101

The star of this Harvard Business Review video interviews experts—from an organizational psychologist and business professor to a TikToker who asks people how much money they make—to get to the bottom of core issues about pay transparency. Why is talking about money becoming less taboo? How do pay transparency laws impact workers, employers, and office culture? Watch this video to find out.

Campaigning for the Westminster dog show can cost up to $6K

Before dogs make it to the high-profile Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, owners invest money in registering their dog in numerous shows, paying for professional photoshoots, and grooming services. While winning dog shows often doesn't come with cash prizes, it does usually result in more interest in the dog's breeding stock.

Companies pay multiple fees as part of the IPO process

When a company decides to approach IPO, it typically hires investment bankers—who earn about 7% of the IPO’s gross proceeds—to help set the organization’s target valuation range and schedule an IPO date. But that isn't the only fee associated with the IPO process.

In 2024, attorneys spent an estimated $541M on outdoor ads

A $70M increase from 2023, this marketing tactic helps lawyers bring attention to their names in an oversaturated market. Read this article to find out why lawyers advertise on so many billboards.

Should you prepay for your funeral?

The median cost of a funeral with a viewing and burial was $8,300 as of 2023, according to The National Funeral Directors Association.

Watch experts blindly taste test Champagne and other sparkling wines

Champagne’s prestige typically comes with a high price. So is it worth it? Professional wine judge Dr. Matthew Horkey invites a Champagne expert and a producer to a blind taste test to find out. The individuals try sparkling wines from across the world and do their best to sniff out (sip out?) which is the real-deal Champagne.

Tennis' Grand Slam tournaments take place at some of the sport's most storied venues

There are over 50 events on the WTA calendar, but the tour's four Grand Slam tournaments are the ones both professionals and fans look forward to every year. This Eyes on the Stands video takes you on a journey from Melbourne Park, to Roland Garros, to the All England Club, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to learn the rich history of each venue.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.