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Vol. I · Issue 04 · Wedding Intelligence

The bridal industry runs on vibes.
We run on data.

Real prices from real weddings. Verified by the brides who paid them. Under the Veil tracks venue, vendor, and dress costs across 150+ wedding businesses and 38 regional benchmarks — so you can plan with numbers, not estimates.

US Median Wedding (2026)
$36,000
Zola · flat YoY
Couples Over Budget
78%
avg overspend: 31%
Underestimate Venue Cost
67%
by 25% or more

The venue index

# Venue Status Reported Price Observations Source
METHODOLOGY: "Aggregated" = pulled from venue's public website or a third-party listing. "Self-reported" = bride or groom's own submission. "Verified" = receipt-backed (badge appears once we ship the verification flow). Always assume aggregated prices are best-case starting figures — real spend is typically 25%+ higher.

The intelligence layer

01 / Regional Index

Wedding cost varies 18×
across US metros

Total wedding cost averages from Zola's 2026 Wedding Cost Index and Wedding.report regional data, normalized to comparable guest counts. See full 38-metro ladder →

NYC Manhattan
$99.4K
San Francisco
$84.6K
Chicago
$81.0K
US median
$8.6K
Houston
$5.5K
02 / Vendor Signals

Who's actually worth the markup

Verified prices for florists, photographers, planners, and DJs. We publish exact numbers with sources cited — not "request a quote" gates. Browse vendors →

Categories tracked9
Vendors in index34
Price observations254
Sources cited100%
03 / Data Integrity

Verified vs. estimated, always

Every number on Under the Veil is tagged. Verified means a real bride submitted a real receipt. Estimated means we aggregated public data. You always know which is which.

73%
Verified
27%
Estimated
Contribute

Did you just book a venue?

Submit what you actually paid. Every verified price makes the index sharper for the next bride. We never publish your name, just the receipt total and your wedding month.

→ 318 brides contributed this week