+34
Wedding planners say rising food, alcohol, fuel and equipment costs have pushed wedding budgets far beyond expectations, with micro-weddings gaining popularity as couples cut costs.
Wedding costs have soared this year, driven by higher food, alcohol, fuel and equipment expenses, and planners warn that the worst may be yet to come.
Wedding Budgets Face Rising Costs
Couples who booked vendors last year locked in lower prices, but those booking now face steeper quotes. When Jessica Korchowiec and Kai Helsdon began planning their wedding roughly two years ago, they set a painstakingly budgeted plan to spend no more than $25,000. But between then and their wedding date on Sept. 5 of this year, everything changed. Couples and vendors faced higher food and service costs, trade tensions and, more recently, higher fuel and transportation prices.
Their original budget was thrown out the window. The initial budget for me was around $25,000, but we ended up spending close to $40,000 and that was partially due to added costs and increase in some of the things that we were not expecting, Korchowiec told CTV News. I was not expecting a house wedding to be so expensive, she added.
I think that is what caught me off guard was that I thought that I had the power to do things cheaper. Wedding planners tell CTV News that wedding costs have soared this year.
Cutting Guest Count and Other Expenses
However, couples are finding different ways to mitigate the financial damage. There is that ripple effect of everything. Fuel costs go up, which means delivery fees are going up, then wedding fees are going up, said Toronto-based wedding planner Trevor Frankfort of Trevents Planning. Getting all of the product for the wedding has now become so much more expensive than it was last summer.
Frankfort said he is having more conversations with his clients about their budget and what couples can trim from the event. Are they willing to go with a cheaper venue, even though it is not all the glitz and glamor? Or do they need to scale back on food quality or guests? Where are they making those compromises? he asked.
Guest count is the biggest hurdle these days because everybody wants to invite everybody, but it is the easiest way to reduce the cost of your wedding, but keeping it elevated still, Frankfort said. Statistics Canada data shows several costs tied to both hosting and attending a wedding have climbed over the past year.
Food Alcohol and Fuel Price Pressures
Prices for food purchased from restaurants, which is a category indirectly tied to catering and food-service costs, saw an increase of roughly six per cent over two years. Prices for alcoholic beverages served at licensed establishments rose 3.5 per cent year-over-year in June, following a 3.3 per cent increase the previous year. Those costs were about 6.9 per cent higher than in June 2024. Fuel costs are also putting pressure on businesses that transport goods and supplies.
Statistics Canada Industrial Product Price Index shows producer prices for diesel fuel were 75 per cent higher in August 2026 than in August 2025. That figure measures prices received by Canadian producers rather than the retail price motorists pay at the pump, but it points to significantly higher fuel-related input costs for industries that rely on trucking and deliveries.
The majority of flowers in Canada are shipped from South America, from Europe, from Asia, said wedding planner Roxy Zapala who runs Art of Celebrations. There are some homegrown florals, but a lot of them are shipped, so when the gas prices go up, the price of flowers start to skyrocket. When we are talking about things like a single bouquet, maybe the price goes up by $5 and $10. Wedding guests have also felt a financial hit this year.
Travel prices have surged and accommodation costs have also risen. Gasoline prices were 22.8 per cent higher in August than a year earlier, while air transportation prices rose 15 per cent over the same period. Travel-tour prices were up 26.1 per cent year-over-year in August, along with the introduction of fuel surcharges amid higher jet-fuel costs. Accommodation also became more expensive.
Traveller-accommodation prices were 10.1 per cent higher nationally in June 2026 than in June 2025. The increase was even larger in Ontario, at 19.4 per cent, although Statistics Canada said the provincial jump was driven in part by higher demand in Toronto during the FIFA World Cup. All of those things are affected. It is like a ripple effect, and all of a sudden everything becomes so much more expensive, added Zapala.
Micro Weddings Gain Popularity
So maybe guests are declining coming to multiple weddings and only choosing to go to one or two for the year. Wedding planners have told CTV News their clients have been gravitating less towards destination weddings and more towards micro-weddings to save money. Micro-weddings have an average guest count of 20 to 50 people and that is just their favorite people, said Tracey Manailescu with the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada. They are must-have people, like friends and family.
So maybe you are going to a restaurant, maybe you are having a really particular winery or venue that you really want to have this beautiful, elegant setting. Or maybe it could be in your backyard and just downsizing it but upgrading on the florals or upgrading on the things that are really important to them, she added.
Manailescu says micro-weddings were common during the COVID-19 pandemic and now they are seeing it creep back again so that couples can allocate their funds to other expenses. Then that money that we are saving, let us put it towards our house, let us put it towards our honeymoon, and let us go to Europe for a month, as opposed to let us go a week somewhere else and let it go.
What Rising Costs Mean for Couples
When it comes to wedding expenses, Frankfort believes the worst is yet to come. Many couples were able to lock in prices when they booked last year, but those who are booking vendors now might be in for a shock when they see the prices. What I am seeing down the road is these trade wars just keep happening, and it is getting worse and worse in every industry, not just the wedding industry.
CTVToronto
CP24:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Wedding Costs Inflation Micro-Weddings Statistics Canada Wedding Planners
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Family Sees Wedding Registry, Can’t Believe Anyone Would Ask For Such Outrageous ThingsIdeally, wedding registries exist to make gift-giving easier. However, they can also become a source of drama, where everyone ends up resenting each other. This is what happened to a family when the matriarch uninvited her financially strapped relatives from the wedding for giving the least expensive gift from the registry. .
Read more »
Friend Reveals He’s A Homophobe Right Before Couple’s Wedding In An Unhinged Hurtful WayTwo women had planned the wedding of their dreams, down to the perfect dresses they'd each picked out. Yet, two bigoted friends just couldn’t keep their homophobia in check and decided to ruin their big day. That’s how, on the morning of, the couple found out their dresses were stolen and cut up.
Read more »
My Comfy Travel Set Looks Like A Million Bucks — But Costs Just $30“GET THIS!! I tried this on and immediately ordered another color.”
Read more »