Congratulations, Arkansas! We are No. 1. We are first on a list!
And it's even a decent, downright desirable list! (This time we're not talking about having the highest obesity rate and -- contradictory as it might seem -- the highest rate of senior citizens who are hungry. Sad but true, we've topped both at the same time.)
Arkansas, we excel at ... cheapness!
That collective buzz you just heard was all the Natural State wives agreeing, "Mmmhmm! I know that's right!" about their spouses.
It's not that Arkansans are cheap, so much as we're savvy spenders. At least when it comes to getting married.
TheKnot.com wedding website (which the frugal know is free to use) just released its annual Knot 2016 Real Weddings Study, detailing various modern wedding statistics.
Bloomberg reported on the study, beginning the story this way: "Thinking of getting married? Move to Arkansas. That's where this increasingly expensive proposition is usually cheapest, according to a survey of 13,000 American brides and grooms who got hitched last year."
The study reveals the average 2016 wedding in the United States cost $35,329 (up from $32,641 in 2015). The intimidating wedding price tags don't even include the honeymoon, just the various ceremony and reception components, from the dress and flowers to the engagement ring and rehearsal dinner. (And we noticed a lot of items missing, at least from the bride's side: What about hair? Shoes? Makeup? Nails? Undergarments? Outfits to wear to showers? Presents for attendants? Tack on a few more hundreds or thousands there.)
In Arkansas? Weddings here cost much less than the national average -- "just" $19,522 (quotation marks used to emphasize that it's still a huge sum to splurge on just one day in an age when so many marriages dissolve, especially in Arkansas, a high-divorce-rate state).
Now $19.5K seems like a bridal bargain when compared to the average $78,454 Manhattan matrimony, the most expensive on the list. Those poor things.
Oh wait, but we earn less than those New Yorkers. The Bloomberg story points out that in 2015, the annual mean wage in Arkansas was $38,540, compared to $144,716 in Manhattan. We poor things.
Who is really poor are the bride's parents. They shoulder most (44 percent) of the wedding costs, while 42 percent is footed by the bride and groom. The groom's parents contribute a mere 13 percent.
Destination weddings are still popular, with 20 percent of couples choosing them (and they're really popular with your friends/family who can conveniently opt out of attending the faraway festivities. Oops, did I say that out loud?).
All of this has me thinking about a better way for Arkansas couples to do their I Dos.
Arkansas fiances need to find jobs in New York for their finances (if they can telecommute from Arkansas without actually living in expensive New York, that's even better). They need to select Arkansas for destination weddings (ooh, like Romance, that White County community with the cute name) and pay for them out of their own, fuller pockets. With all the money they are saving and investing, they can enjoy a honeymoon, put a down payment on an Arkansas house, start a college fund for their future children and even treat their parents to a trip.
Sources of marital discord -- money woes and tense family relations -- would disappear. Couples would stay together and truly live happily ever after.
Now that is romantic!
Or at least Romance-ish.
To love, honor and email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
What's in a Dame is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 02/07/2017