Planning a wedding is such a beautiful, new experience that shapes the beginning of your lives together. It’s a time when everyone you love gathers in your honor, and cherished memories are made. But it all starts with a lot of decision-making and preparation, including setting aside a budget for your wedding and deciding how to best allocate your spend to create the experience you’re dreaming of.
Through the information below, I’ll be breaking down how much a wedding in Utah actually costs. You can find information on the considered average spend for the state of Utah, where most couples land within that spend, and how to allocate percentages of your budget to your venue, photographer, and florist.
Average Cost of a Utah Wedding & What it Means
According to a 2025 breakdown provided by The Wedding Report, the average cost of a wedding in Utah is around $38,382. But it’s important to know that averages are just that. Reports such as these take the totals from each of the couples polled, add them up, and divide them out. This means that couples who eloped for under $5000 and couples whose weddings exceeded $100,000 are factored into this figure equally, making it an unrealistic expectation for setting your own wedding budget. In other words, not every couple’s wedding in Utah costs the average of $38,382. Your own wedding budget might be far lower, or even far higher than this figure.
Average Spend Through Tiers
The overall cost of a wedding in Utah looks different for every couple. Any number of reasons can determine a couple’s total wedding spend, and within those spends each couple has their own set of priorities. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the varying tiers when it comes to the cost of a wedding in Utah.
- $20,000 – Budget-friendly weddings that may involve eloping, DIY, or even some planning help from parents and family members.
- $20,000 to $50,000 – Average cost of a wedding in Utah. Many couples land here, with a few exceptions.
- $50,000–$150,000: Upscale weddings. These weddings occur in high-end venues and include a skilled planner and robust floral design.
- $150,000–$500,000: Luxury weddings. These Utah weddings are multi-day celebrations at high-end venues with overnight accommodations for guests and celebrations that include a welcome party, rehearsal dinner, wedding day, and farewell brunch.
There are Three Driving Factors to Consider When Breaking Down Costs
Now that you have an idea what each couple in Utah is spending in total for their wedding day, how does that pricing break down further? Undeniably, weddings at every tier of spending include three items. A venue, photography, and wedding florals. Each of these will be allocated to the total spend of a wedding through a dedicated percentage.
1. Venue Selection
The very first stop in planning your Utah wedding will be the selection and booking of your venue. Your wedding venue secures your wedding date, allowing you to send out save-the-dates and begin the next steps in the wedding planning process. It also shapes the subsequent planning decisions you’ll make from there. Floral arrangements will be created with the space in mind, attire will be selected depending on whether your venue accommodates ceremonies indoors or outdoors, your food and beverage service will either be offered as part of your venue package, or you’ll need to allocate a portion of your spend to an outside caterer who knows the space well. Once your venue has been chosen, all the other pieces of the wedding planning process can fall into place with ease.
Budgeting for Your Venue
Your venue selection is by far, one of the biggest expenses, with a total of 40%-50% going towards your chosen space.
Expected Cost of a Utah Wedding Venue
A Utah wedding venue can cost anywhere from $2000 to $50,000, with the average couple spending between $6000 to $25,000 on their venue.
Considerations to Make When Selecting Your Venue
There are a number of stunning wedding venues in Utah, but don’t be too quick to jump into a venue contract until you’ve both decided what’s most important. Is it a venue that offers ceremonies and receptions? One with a getting-ready suite on site? What about a venue that offers dining on-site versus one that requires the assistance of an off site caterer? Do you have guests coming in from out of town? You may need a Utah wedding venue with overnight accommodations. What about the style of your venue? Do you dream of getting married in the mountains or do you love the flexibility of a blank slate venue? Create a list of your non-negotiables and go from there.
Pro Tip: Did you go on a venue tour and absolutely fall in love with the space? Ask the venue if they have a required preferred vendor list. Select Utah wedding venues will have a required preferred vendor list for couples, which will limit who you can work with for planning, photography, video, and florals. Conversely, some venues provide couples with a list, but they only view it as a suggestion, leaving you open to hire your desired wedding vendors. Falling in love with a venue only to find you cannot work with your selected photographer is a heartbreaking ordeal, so it’s important to ask in advance.
2. Photography
Utah wedding photography is a top priority throughout the wedding planning process, with good reason. Much like your venue, wedding photographers can be booked out far in advance. This timeframe can be anywhere from 12 to 18 months ahead of your wedding. Which is why, once you’ve secured your wedding date with a venue, you should begin the process of finding a photographer in your price range, whose style closely matches your own.
Budgeting for Your Utah Wedding Photographer
Overall, when budgeting for your wedding, around 10% to 25% should be allocated to your wedding photographer. If your photographer offers the addition of wedding videography or even content creation, you may want to consider increasing the total percentage.
Expected Cost of a Utah Wedding Photographer
Wedding photography in Utah covers a wide range of pricing, with costs ranging from $3000 to $25,000.
Considerations to Make When Selecting Your Wedding Photographer
Your wedding photos, and video if you should choose to add it on, will be one of the few things remaining after your wedding day that you will ‘use’. Photos can be printed and hung on the walls of your home, framed and gifted to parents and grandparents, or put in an album to sit on your coffee table or bookshelf, reminding you and any one visiting your home of the unforgettable day that shaped your journey. As a wedding photographer myself, I cannot stress enough that the style offered by the wedding photographer you select is of the utmost importance. An experienced photographer, whose wedding photos stand the test of time, is worth the investment of recalling the emotions felt on your wedding day for a lifetime.
Pro Tip: Many of the big wedding industry publications will recommend that you ask your photographer whether or not they’ve previously worked at your wedding venue. But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter. On the off chance that your photographer hasn’t worked at your venue, we are given access to the venue prior to your wedding for a walkthrough. This allows us to scout your venue in advance, capture test shots to consider the light, and take into account any weather conditions that may occur on your wedding day, affecting your photography experience.
3. Floral Design
With your venue and photographer booked, it’s time to consider florals and how they factor into your overall wedding cost in Utah. Florals are unique in that they can be managed at nearly any price point, with the most budget-conscious couples considering bouquets and boutonnieres versus couples at a luxury price point who drape every corner of their venue in florals. Many, if not all, Utah wedding florists work with couples on an à la carte pricing structure that typically begins with a base minimum required spend, allowing you the flexibility to enjoy florals on your wedding day in a way that is respectful of your total floral budget and overall vision.
Budgeting for Your Utah Wedding Florals
Anywhere from 10% to 25% of your total wedding budget should be allocated to your florals.
Expected Cost of Utah Wedding Flowers
Our sister company, Wild Earth Designs, curates floral designs for couples getting married in Utah. They work with most modest budgets, around $2500, to high-end ultra-luxury budgets, which can exceed $50,000. What we know from working with them closely over the years is that, on average, couples planning a wedding in Salt Lake City spend a total of $5000 on their wedding flowers.
Considerations to Make When Selecting Your Florist
A beautifully designed floral experience can still be enjoyed by couples at any price point. Wild Earth Designs, in particular, works with couples to repurpose their ceremony arches and arrangements. A ceremony arch can be transitioned in your reception space, and aisle arrangements can be moved to table tops or to other focal points of your wedding reception, allowing you to make the most of your budget while still enjoying highly impactful florals on your wedding day. To make your total allocated floral spend stretch even further, be open about selecting in-season flowers, which are more readily available, fresher, and longer lasting.
Pro Tip: Consider the highly photographed areas and people of your wedding. A stunning bouquet filled with volume, depth, and varying textures can heavily influence your photo experience in a positive way. This sentiment extends to the members of your wedding party who should have a wearable or carryable floral.
Other Wedding Expenses to be Mindful Of
Your venue, photo package, and florals are just three of the biggest spends to consider when trying to determine the total cost of your Utah wedding. You’ll still need to consider the following products and services in your overall spend.
- Wedding Day Attire
- Rings
- Hair & Makeup
- Catering
- Rentals (lighting, tables, chairs, lounge furniture)
- Transportation
- Stationery
- Cake (if not part of your catering package)
- Entertainment (DJ, band, string quartet)
- Interactive Experiences (photobooth, live painter)
- Officiant
- Wedding Party Gifts
We’re Still Not Sure Where That Leaves Us
You can plan a beautiful wedding in Utah, at any tier of cost. While it might seem overwhelming to consider individual percentages and what to splurge on versus what to forgo, my advice to you would be to start with your non-negotiables. What’s most important to you? What is it that comes to mind when you picture your wedding day? There is no right or wrong way to determine the cost of your Utah wedding; there is only what feels right to you. Once you have that in mind, the rest will fall into place. If you need more planning tips or advice, or you’d like to receive a quote for photo & video coverage on your Utah wedding day, you can reach out to me at this link.