Planning a wedding? Here's the least expensive state to get hitched

Getting married out West has its financial perks, according to a new study. (iStock)

The least romantic part of planning a wedding has to be dealing with your budget.

Not only do most weddings involve having to pay caterers based on how many guests you invite (sorry to all the second- and third-cousins who felt snubbed during wedding season), there’s the cake, the dress, the open bar, and of course, the ultimate money pit: the wedding venue.

And even if you’re a star DIY-er, your wedding can still cost an arm and a leg — depending on where you are.

That’s why The Knot surveyed nearly 13,000 couples married in 2017 for its 2017 Real Weddings Study, and found that the state you get married in can make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars.

The good news, across the board, is that thanks to more DIY brides and couples cutting down on black-tie affairs in favor of non-traditional venues and personal touches, the average wedding cost has actually gone down to $33,391.

But the actual, least expensive state to get married in is New Mexico, averaging at $17,584, as reported by HuffPost. Other more affordable states include Utah (averaging just over $18,000) and Montana (just over $20,000).

Some of the more eyebrow-raising, faint-inducing areas to tie the knot include Manhattan, averaging at $76,944; North and Central New Jersey at $62,074; and Chicago at $52,332.