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Attending a wedding can cost as much as rent, Zillow report finds
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It’s no secret that many young adults are having a hard time financially, especially when it comes to affording a home purchase. Weddings may be exacerbating the problem for some.
The typical monthly rent, which captures rent prices for multi- and single-family rentals, was $2,007 in August, up 2.4% from a year prior, according to Zillow.
A separate recent report by the housing site found that attending just one wedding and a bachelor or bachelorette weekend can cost $2,010.
“It really is eye-opening when you put it right next to rent,” said Amanda Pendleton, the home trends expert at Zillow.
Some renters will go to extremes to attend such milestone events. About 45% of surveyed Gen Z and millennial adults reported making a housing sacrifice to afford such celebrations, Zillow found.
Among those trade-offs: About 11% of those surveyed said they live with roommates, while 9% said they were saving less for a down payment. Still others said they were either renting or buying a smaller home, at 8% and 7%, respectively.
The site polled 1,200 U.S. adults ages 18 to 45 in mid-August. Gen Zers are those aged 18 to 30, and millennials are those aged 31 to 45.
“It’s just a tangible way to show how these celebrations can disrupt housing stability,” said Pendleton.
Receiving multiple invitations in a short period can amplify the effect.
Renters are renting for longer
Housing unaffordability has kept many millennials and GenZers priced out of the for-sale market, making them renters for much longer.
The median sales price of an existing home was $422,600 in August, according to a late September report by the National Association of Realtors. That is up 2% from a year prior, when the price was $414,200.
In 2024, the NAR found that the median age of first-time homebuyers reached an all-time high of 38 years old. In the 1980s, the typical first-time buyer was in their late 20s.
However, marriages are happening before people become homeowners. In 2025, the average age of marriage in the U.S. is 32, according to The Knot, a bridal site. That average has remained the same since 2023.
How to afford wedding costs
While it’s easy to get carried away with wedding-related celebrations, it’s important to not stress your finances, experts say.
You also want to be careful about relying on forms of credit. In 2024, about 31% of wedding guests had taken on debt to attend a wedding, and 23% of those who did so borrowed $2,500 or more, according to LendingTree.
Luckily, many engaged couples send wedding save-the-dates from six months to a year in advance, said Gloria Garcia Cisneros, a certified financial planner and wealth manager at LourdMurray in Los Angeles.
If you receive enough notice, find ways to reallocate cash you usually spend on discretionary expenses into a separate savings account, said Cisneros, a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. Cisneros said that saving the money in a separate account to avoid the temptation from using it ahead of time.
To make your savings grow, a high yield savings account generally offers a much higher annual percentage yield than traditional savings accounts.
While the Federal Reserve recently slashed interest rates, the top 1% of accounts average 4.03%, according to DepositAccounts. The national average for savings accounts is 0.49%.
If you find yourself invited to multiple weddings in a year, and buying a home is a priority, you may need to consider other trade-offs, like deciding which weddings to attend and which to skip.
Between travel, accommodations, attire and gifts, the average cost per wedding guest in 2024 was $610, according to The Knot. That is an increase of $180 over the past five years.
