Couples are dropping up to $100,000 on multiple wedding ceremonies — and that's just one way they're breaking marriage traditions

• More couples are having multiplewedding ceremonies,reported Jessica Schiffer for The New York Times.
• These ceremonies cost $50,000 on average but can exceed $100,000, according to Schiffer.
• Multiplewedding ceremonies are one way couples today are changing marriage — they’re also signing prenups and getting married later in nontraditional venues.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Weddings aren’t known for being cheap affairs — especially when newlyweds are throwing multiple ceremonies.

It’s a rising trend among couples tying the knot, reported Jessica Schiffer for The New York Times.

“Multiceremony wedding experiences are becoming more common among couples looking to accommodate different cultural and religious backgrounds, not to mention guests who may not be able to afford pricey destination weddings,” Schiffer wrote.

More than half of couples today are marrying someone with a different background, which has reduced the perception that multiple ceremonies are “over the top,” Schiffer said, citing stats from WeddingWire. New York wedding planner Jove Meyer told Schiffer that 15% of his clients in the past year have had at least two ceremonies.

According to WeddingWire, the national average cost for weddings is around $38,700, but that hikes up to an average cost of $50,000 when multiple ceremonies are involved — with some exceeding $100,000, Schiffer wrote. Costs can get high, she said, because cultural celebrations can be elaborate and have lengthy guest lists.

For example, Indian wedding celebrations last for days and Japanese brides have several costume changes, according to Business Insider’s Abby Rogers.

Read more: Millennials’ preferences are leading to major changes in the wedding industry

But some couples keep things more low-key, which lowers costs — one couple Schiffer spoke to had an unofficial wedding ceremony in France and a backyard and beach celebration in California, all for $11,000.

Couples are also implementing a few boundaries, like not overlapping guest lists across celebrations and not throwing any ceremonies past the one-year mark, Schiffer said.

But that’s not the only way couples, millennials in particular, are changing love and marriage. They’re waiting longer in their relationships to get married — 4.9 years on average, reported Kristin Salaky for INSIDER, citing a Bridebook study. They’re also getting married at a later age, according to INSIDER’s Kim Renfro.

A delay in marriage has given couples more time to acquire their own assets — as a result, more couples are signing prenups before marriage to protect these assets in the event of a divorce.

And when they do get married, they tend to ditch traditional weddings, opting for unconventional venues such as barns and farms over banquet halls and hotel reception rooms, reported Business Insider’s Mary Hanbury.

Read the full story at the New York Times »

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