It’s not going to be a small wedding. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot at Windsor Castle on May 19, they are going to be celebrating in style, and luckily for them, Kensington Palace is picking up the tab. But if they were to write a check, they’d want to have a well-inked pen on hand, because their celebration is going to cost eight figures. EIGHT FIGURES!
Whereas the venue and/or wedding dress is often the biggest expense, in the case of Meghan and Harry, security will be the most costly expense.
Bridebook has broken down the overall cost of the couple’s wedding and excluding security and the honeymoon, the cost is expected to be over 100 times as much as the national average for the U.K., coming in at $43,251,913.30 (£31,969,873). Now, that’s a party!
That’s also about $10 million more than Kate Middleton and Prince William’s wedding.
Here’s the breakdown rounded to the nearest US dollar:
Venue – $473,514
Catering – $386,928
Drinks – $261,109
Dress – $405869
Floristry – $148,819
Photography & Videography- $22,999
Cake – $67,645
Stationery – $27,058
Music – $405,869
Trumpets – $121,761
Decoration and Production – $175,876
Wedding Rings – $8,117
Bridesmaids Outfits – $6,764
Flower Girls and Page Boys Outfits – $2,297
Church Fees – $237
Groomswear – $10,823
Hair and Makeup – $13,529
Entertainment – $74,409
Wedding Favours – $4,059
Toilets – $47,351
The Honeymoon $162,348
Security – $40,586,880
According to Bridebook, they based these numbers on an analysis of more than 170,000 weddings via Bridebook.co.uk‘s wedding planning tools and budget calculator, and a review of over 70,000 wedding industry suppliers’ price estimates listed on Bridebook.co.uk’s wedding venue and supplier directory.
