Plus, chefs and plumbers are taking up influencing Some brides are offsetting the eye-watering costs of hosting weddings in 2026 with financial support from family or taking out loans. Others are doing brand collabs. Spending on weddings rose 8.5% the first half of this year compared with last year, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Chavie Lieber, who cited a recent Bank of America Institute study.

Last year, the average cost of a wedding was $34,200, according to a study involving more than 10,000 couples from the wedding-planning platform The Knot. That means even brides without massive social-media followings are promoting companies online in exchange for free booze, engagement party dresses and favors for bridesmaid goody bags. (Last summer I actually wrote about the trend of brides-to-be querying brands for free stuff for their bachelorette parties, to the dismay of some very overwhelmed small companies). As a 2026-07-24 02:13:04:55:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12:13:14:15:16:17:18:19:20:21:22:23:24:25:26:27:28:29:30:31:32:33:34:35:36:37:38:39:40:3:41:42:43:44:45:46:47:48:49:50:5.0, a.