Are Big Weddings Falling Out of Love? Why Small Weddings Are Having a Big Moment in Australia

Are Australians falling out of love with getting married — or are we simply falling out of love with the big, traditional wedding?

As a marriage celebrant, I obviously have a vested interest in people continuing to say aye do! But the latest Australian marriage figures got me thinking about how weddings are changing — and actually, I think there’s something quite exciting happening.

According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, 118,804 marriages were registered in Australia in 2025, down 1.7% from 120,844 the year before. The marriage rate also fell slightly, from 5.5 to 5.3 marriages per 1,000 people aged 16 and over.

So yes, technically, fewer Australians are getting married.

But we’re still talking about almost 119,000 couples choosing marriage in a single year.

I don’t think Australians have fallen out of love with weddings. I think we’re starting to question what a wedding actually needs to look like.

When did getting married become a $40,000 event?

Here’s the statistic that really jumped out at me.

The latest Easy Weddings research puts the average Australian wedding at $38,252 — and in NSW the average is even higher at $42,322.

Even more interestingly, couples apparently begin with an average budget of around $29,471 and end up spending about 23% more than they originally planned.

That’s a lot of money for one day.

And with mortgages, rent, travel and the general cost of living all competing for our hard-earned cash, perhaps it’s not surprising that some couples are asking:

Do we actually need all of this to get married?

Enter the micro wedding

One of the wedding trends I’m loving is the move towards smaller, more personal celebrations.

Micro weddings, elopements and intimate ceremonies are getting more attention, with couples cutting guest lists and questioning some of the traditions they once felt they had to include.

And I’m all for it.

Because a smaller wedding doesn’t have to feel like a lesser wedding.

You could have 10 people on a beach on the Central Coast.

Twenty of your favourite humans in the garden at home.

Get legally married quietly and throw an amazing party afterwards.

Have lunch at your favourite restaurant instead of hiring an enormous reception venue.

Wear something you already own.

Buy the fabulous dress but ditch the expensive flowers.

Spend the money on a brilliant photographer, great food, a honeymoon — or put it towards your house.

There are no prizes for having the most expensive wedding.

Micro wedding doesn’t have to mean micro ceremony

This is the bit that’s important to me as a celebrant.

If you’re going to cut something from your wedding, don’t automatically assume the ceremony needs to be reduced to five boring minutes of legal wording.

Your ceremony is the bit that’s actually about you.

It’s where we can tell your story, make people laugh, remember people who can’t be there, include your dog, involve your family, have a handfasting, write ridiculous vows, play your song or completely ignore traditions that don’t mean anything to you.

You might have 150 guests.

You might have 15.

You might have two witnesses, me and a bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge.

It is still your wedding.

Spend your wedding budget where it matters to YOU

I think this could be one of the best changes happening in weddings.

Rather than following the traditional checklist of everything a wedding is supposed to have, couples are becoming more selective.

Quality over quantity.

Fewer guests but better food.

Less decoration but a fantastic photographer.

No wedding favours but an amazing honeymoon.

A simple venue but a ceremony that everyone remembers.

Or maybe you do want the flowers, the 150 guests, the band, the champagne tower and the huge party.

Fantastic!

The point isn’t that big weddings are bad.

It’s that your wedding doesn’t have to look like anybody else’s.

So… are weddings in decline?

Perhaps slightly.

But love certainly isn’t.

In 2025, almost 119,000 Australian couples still stood beside someone they loved and decided:

Yep. You. Let’s do this.

Maybe the wedding industry simply needs to catch up with the fact that today’s couples want more choice.

Big wedding. Small wedding. Backyard wedding. Beach wedding. Legals only. Elopement. Second wedding. Same-sex wedding. Handfasting. Fifty people or five.

For me, the important bit has never been how much money you spend.

It’s that when you’re standing there together, the ceremony actually feels like you.

Because when you strip away the flowers, outfits, table plans and wedding trends, we’re really back to the same question I’ve been asking a lot lately:

What is love?

And perhaps the answer is a lot simpler than a $40,000 wedding.

Shona Tough is a marriage celebrant at Aye-Do Weddings, creating relaxed, personal and slightly less traditional wedding ceremonies on the NSW Central Coast and beyond.

Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2025, released 28 July 2026; Easy Weddings, 2026 Australian Wedding Industry Report.