Why weddings are no longer big business in the US

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Many would describe it as the happiest day of their lives. But it seems fewer Americans are happy to get married these days. Researchers say that the number of weddings in the US is down. And, those who do get married want fewer people witnessing that special moment.

Half of US adults today are married, a rate that has remained relatively stable in recent years but has dropped by nine percent over the past quarter-century, and starkly declined from the peak of 72 percent in 1960, according to the US Census Bureau.

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Nine out of every 1000 people in the US got married in 1995. The number was under seven last year and expected to drop to below six by 2023. And those married couples are inviting fewer guests. The average wedding had 149 guests eight years ago, while that number shrunk to 141 last year.

"A lot of people are more particular with what they want now. And that includes the guest list," said Belinda Lui, a wedding planner at Bookt Events.

The decline in marriage rate is not the only reason. Marriage rates are also more closely linked to socio-economic status than ever before, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data that shows that the education gap between the married and single, is widening.

In 2015, among adults ages 25 and older, 65 percent with a four-year college degree were married, compared with 55 percent of those with some college education and 50 percent among those with no education beyond high school. 25 years earlier, the marriage rate was above 60 percent for each of these groups.

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The economic crisis over the last decades has taken a toll on weddings as well. With the median cost around 14,000 US dollars, lovers “are reevaluating where their money is best spent,” says Lui.

But new boons for the industry have also emerged. Same-sex marriage, for example, has opened up the market, as well as wedding tourism.

"The top destination, if you couldn't guess, is Las Vegas. And that's followed by Hawaii. A lot of foreigners think of these destinations as places to get married, meaning it's a huge moneymaker for the United States," said Kaycea Campbell, an economics professor at Pierce College.