The Wedding Report Methodology
Number of weddings last updated 03/2010
Spending data last updated 03/2010
Collection of Data
Data is collected and aggregated from many different sources into proprietary market estimates.
Our primary source of data is proprietary surveys to Brides, Grooms, and Wedding Professionals.
We also use data collected from Federal, State and local government offices, CDC, Census Bureau, Department of Labor, and Easy Analytic Software, Inc., as part of the estimating and forecasting process.
This breadth and depth of data gives you a more complete picture of the wedding market.
Number of Weddings
The foundation for number of wedding estimates are derived from wedding licenses issued at the State and County levels.
Initial estimates use a rate per population method to calculate zip code level numbers.
We then apply a proprietary formula to arrive at the final estimate and growth rate for each zip code.
Zip codes are then summed up to market levels (city, metro, state, then US).
US and State level weddings includes actual numbers for years available. All other years are estimated.
The model for number of weddings attempts to take into account weddings that travel into a market and weddings that originate from a market.
Estimated weddings do not take into account current natural disasters.
In addition, due to the high complexity of predicting weddings that may travel into popular locations, the number of weddings for areas
like these may be underestimated.
Please contact us if you feel there is a large discrepancy in the numbers for a location so we can re-evaluate that location.
Spending (Wedding Cost)
We currently collect data on over 100 products and services through pre-wedding, post-wedding, and vendor surveys.
This serves as the base for all spending data. Using the base results, we apply a proprietary formula to calculate estimates and growth rates for each item, for each market.
The model for spending takes into account couples that travel into and originate from a market. It also takes into account the economic and social factors of each market.
The total "Average Cost" is calculated using "Weighted Demand Average," which is; average spent times demand equals the weighted demand average.
Sum of weighted demand averages equals the average cost. Using the WDA instead of a summed average gives a better calculation, because it takes into account all items that a market may purchase.
Additional Items
All other items are calculated from survey data, wedding, and spending estimates.
Survey Data
All survey data is collected from random anonymous participants in electronic form through many channels.
Surveys use both multiple choice and open ended questions. Over 27,000 survey samples have been collected in the past 5 years.
The most current cost calculations are derived from a sample size of 3,200 surveys conducted in 2009.
Work is Progress
This research is a continuous work in progress. New data is continuously collected, aggregating, and re-evaluating to improve the reliability and accuracy of the estimates.
