One of the biggest growth businesses in West Virginia may revolve around the two answers "Yes" and "I do."

The wedding industry is projected to be a $307 million business in West Virginia this year. In upcoming years, the amount of money couples spend to get married is expected to become even larger.

In 2006, 14,570 couples will marry in West Virginia with the average cost of each wedding reaching $21,100, according to The Wedding Report, a wedding statistics Web site. Fast forward four years, and the 15,320 couples expected to tie the knot should expect to spend on average about $26,200.

"Every year, the business just gets bigger," said Kathleen Murray, senior editor for The Knot, a multi-media wedding advice and service company. "Part of that is that costs go up. But part of it is also the celebrity culture we are in. People see how celebrities get married and want to imitate those opulent celebrations."

Need some way to frame how big the wedding industry is in West Virginia? This year, couples will spend an amount equal to one-tenth of the state's general fund on their one-day celebration.

And how is that money spent? Well, it doesn't include the engagement ring or honeymoon -- those are extra costs that aren't typically factored into wedding costs. But it does go to everything that happens on the couple's big day.

Here is the breakdown of how a bride and groom would spend their budgeted $21,100, according to The Wedding Report:

• 51 percent of the money, or $10,780, is spent on the reception, with most of that cost, approximately $7,569, being gobbled up by the cost of food and alcoholic beverages. The wedding cake as well as the couple's hotel room for the first night also are included in the cost of the reception.
• 10 percent, or $2,095, is spent on photographers and videographers.
• 9 percent, or $1,829, is spent on the ceremony, including an estimated $966 for the rehearsal dinner.
• 7 percent, or $1,451, is spent on attire, including $726 for the bride's dress and $209 for her veil.
• 6 percent, or $1,369, is spent on wedding bands.
• 4 percent, or $895, is spent on flowers, while another 4 percent, or $872, is spent on gifts for attendants as well as wedding favors.
• 3 percent, or $726, goes to musicians or a disc jockey, while another 3 percent, or $638, goes to invitations, reply cards and thank you cards.
• The least amount of money is spent on limo or car rentals. That costs $443.

But West Virginians are getting off relatively cheap.

Shane McMurray, who runs the The Wedding Report, as well as the Web site www.costofwedding.com, said West Virginia ranks second from the bottom in average wedding costs. Only brides and grooms in Mississippi spend less. The average cost for a wedding in that state is $18,526.

Nationally, the average cost of weddings this year is $26,800. But northeastern states and Alaska far exceed those costs. McMurray said the average wedding in New Jersey costs $36,113, followed by Connecticut, where weddings cost $35,726, and Massachusetts, where weddings cost $35,360. Alaska ranks fourth for most expensive weddings, with the average nuptials there costing $34,720.

Murray, of The Knot, said the reason weddings cost so much more in the New York City metro area and the northeast region in general is that those areas have higher costs of living than other regions of the country, and more competition for service such as caterers, wedding planners, reception halls, tuxedos and dressmakers.

Both Murray and McMurray said a trend they've noticed in recent years is couples opting to pay for their own weddings rather than depending on their parents to foot the bill. Murray said nationally that a growing number of brides and grooms pay for weddings themselves.

In West Virginia, brides and grooms pay for everything in 26 percent of weddings, while the bride's parents pick up the entire tab of 20 percent of weddings. The most common form of paying for a wedding in West Virginia is having both sets of parents, as well as the bride and groom, contribute. That happens in about 29 percent of weddings.

Murray said the change in who pays for weddings, as well as the climbing costs for weddings, has a lot to do with the fact that brides and grooms are a lot older than they used to be. Nationally, the average age for a bride is 27. In 1970, the average bride was 21. The average age for a groom now is 29.

"That makes a big difference in the type of wedding they have and who pays for it," she said. "When the couple is a little bit older, they are more established and can afford more. Plus, they know what they want, and so they are willing to spend a little more to make their wedding uniquely theirs."

And that desire, in the end, translates into a booming business across the state.

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