Gay Couples Are Spending More On Weddings, Asking For Mom And Dad’s Blessing, Since Marriage Equality

A survey highlights same-sex wedding trends since "Obergefell v. Hodges."
From: NewNowNext

 Gay couples are feeling more pressure to marry since the passage of marriage equality, reveals a new study from Logo and The Knot. But they’re also spending more on their weddings and honeymoons.

Surveying nearly 1,000 LGBT couples who were married or engaged, The Knot LGBTQ Weddings Study dug into the average cost of a wedding for same-sex couples, how couples are proposing, traditions they’re embracing, and what kind of family acceptance and involvement they’re receiving.

 The amount of money spent on weddings has rocketed 85% to $33,822 for gay and bi men, and 56% to $25,334 for female couples. (In the same time period, spending went up just 1% for heterosexual men and 15% for cisgender straight women.

But we’re still more likely to pay for everything ourselves—with seven in ten couples footing the bill without family help.

Nevertheless, LGBT couples are inviting more guests to their wedding and participating in more wedding-related events —engagement parties, showers, rehearsal dinners and the like. Elopements are down for the first time.

Top Statistics from The Knot LGBTQ Wedding Study 2016

• Average Wedding Cost: Men, $33,822 (up from $18,242 in 2015); Women, $25,334 (up from $16,218 in 2015)

• Average Engagement Ring Cost: Men, $5,719 (up from $2,250 in 2015); Women, $5,349 (up from $3,163 in 2015); Transgender, $11,145 (new in 2016)

• Average Marrying Ages: Men, 37; Women, 33

• Average Number of Guests: Men, 121 (up from 77 in 2015); Women, 117 (up from 71 in 2015); Transgender, 116 (new in 2016)

• Average Length of Engagement: Men, 9 months (down from 11 months in 2015); Women, 11 months (down from 13 months in 2015)

One interesting facet of the report is that more people are asking permission from their significant other’s family before popping the question: Some 42% of men and 46% of women reported asking for the blessing of their partner’s family, up from 24% of women and 21% of men in 2015.

They’re more like to get a “yes” from Mom and Dad, too: There is a 53% increase in gay couples gaining family acceptance, from 28% in 2015 to 43% in 2016. Sadly, that means more than half of families still don’t accept their children’s marriages.