What to know
- A Royal LePage survey found 46 per cent of Canadians would significantly reduce or skip a wedding celebration to put more money toward a home down payment.
- Toronto real-estate agent Tom Storey says more couples are focusing on securing housing before getting married due to rising home prices and wedding costs.
- The survey also found many Canadians are reconsidering traditional wedding gifts, with 40 per cent saying they would ask guests for money toward a future home purchase instead.
- The expert says shifting priorities, later marriages and programs like the First Home Savings Account are encouraging couples to view home ownership as a more practical long-term investment than an expensive wedding celebration.
Would you rather have your dream wedding or invest in your first home? As the price for both investments continues to skyrocket, more and more Canadians are considering their real-estate plans before hitting the altar.
A new survey from Canadian real-estate page Royal LePage found that many Canadians are skipping expensive wedding celebrations to increase their chances of purchasing a home.
More Canadians choosing homes over weddings
According to the study, 46 per cent of respondents say they would significantly scale back or abandon their wedding celebrations altogether in order to put that investment into a down payment for a home. Meanwhile, 40 per cent said they might do so.
Of those who have already married, 58 per cent say they would have decreased the size of their celebrations to put the money into a home.
Tom Storey, a sales representative and head of The Storey Team and Royal LePage Signature Realty in Toronto, says he has definitely seen more people in the city who have been jumping on the trend.
“I live in Toronto, and from my own friend group…I’ve just kind of watched it happen, not just just my clients, but everybody, typically they’re focusing on figuring out their housing situation before they get married,” he told Now Toronto.
Some considering using gifts towards downpayment
On top of choosing between home ownership and wedding planning, some Canadians are also incorporating their real-estate plans into their celebrations.
Of the respondents that are planning a wedding or who know someone who is, 40 per cent say they would ask guests for money to invest into a home instead of a traditional wedding gift, and 44 per cent say they might consider it.
Why are more people choosing real-estate over weddings?
According to Storey, the change in course comes as the costs associated with a wedding celebration increase, with many weddings costing about the same as a down payment.
Between venue, photographers, catering, flowers, and clothes, a wedding in Toronto is estimated to cost between $25,000 and $150,000 in 2026, according to wedding planning company Thistle & Thorne.
With the average selling price of a home being $1,051,969 in the GTA this April, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average 20 per cent down payment would come to about $210,393.
“[People are] looking at both and going, ‘Okay, is it worth the wedding versus investing in our future?’ or ‘If we’re going to have the wedding and family’s going to help with the wedding, maybe we could use the funds we earn from the wedding for the down payment,’ he said.
“I think it’s just a reality of kind of what housing prices have done and also how the cost of weddings”
In addition to costs, the expert says home buyers might be switching up their expectations since many of them are now getting married later in life, which means their priorities might also change with age.
In fact, the mean age at marriage for Canadians in Ontario was 30.7 in 2020, compared to 26.7 in 1996, according to StatCan.
“I think maybe in the past, when people were getting married a lot younger, it was like, ‘Okay, the path to this is get married, then eventually, start a family and buy a house.’ I just think the priorities have slightly changed,” he explained.
Should people be considering real-estate before tying the knot?
According to Storey, the need to consider real-estate plans before wedding planning comes down to both partners’ life goals.
If their goal is to achieve home ownership earlier on, considering a smaller wedding or putting gift money into a down payment might be an effective strategy to get there.
“At the end of the day, there’s family pressure, and there’s, making sure that your family is proud of you, and doing it a certain way first, and maybe having those relationships remain intact is also equally important for your decision making.”
In addition, he explains that governmental initiatives such as the First Home Savings Account (FHSA), which allow Canadians to save for their first home tax-free, are also things partners might be considering when making their decisions.
“There’s no ‘first wedding savings account,’ so I actually think that that might have played into this conversation and decision making for a lot of people,” he added.
In any case, the expert recommends having an open conversation among the couple before moving forward on either plan.
“Be honest with each other on what’s actually important to you, because even if financially the argument could be made that buying a house probably for most Canadians would be a better use of the money,” he said.
