The busiest months for weddings.
Share of wedding-venue searches by month across the 20 destinations. October takes 15% on its own. The five busiest months, April, May, June, September, October, together take 59%.
- Two peaks, not one. September and October take 27% of searches between them. The spring hump is wider but lower: April, May and June take 32%.
- October is the busiest month at 15%, then September and May at 12% each. January is the quietest at 2%.
- Nine of the 20 destinations peak in September or October. Seven peak in April, May or June. Key West and Miami, where summer and fall are hurricane season, peak in March and April.
The demand and rate data on this page come from our study of 20 wedding destinations, Same Wedding, Big Discount, which pairs each destination's peak month with a cheaper month that keeps the weather.
Wedding season, by destination.
The month each destination gets the most wedding-venue searches.
What wedding season does to hotel rates.
Average nightly hotel rate across the 20 destinations, by month. January is the cheapest at $184 a night. October is the most expensive at $262.
The average hides the useful part. October is expensive because New York, Napa and Nashville are among the priciest destinations that month; it is one of the cheapest months in Hawaii, Miami and Temecula. The month to book depends on the place, which is what the full study is for.
The off-peak alternative, place by place.
For each destination, the peak search month and the cheapest month within a few months of it that still clears that destination's weather bar. Booking off peak drops hotel rates 21% on average.
| Destination | Peak search month | Off-peak alternative | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napa Valley | October | December | 43% |
| New Orleans | October | December | 37% |
| Charleston | October | December | 37% |
| Newport | July | May | 35% |
| San Diego | July | September | 32% |
| New York City | May | July | 29% |
| Savannah | October | December | 26% |
| Key West | March | May | 26% |
| Boulder | September | July | 23% |
| Nashville | October | November | 21% |
| Virginia Beach | October | November | 20% |
| Temecula | May | April | 14% |
| Hawaii | June | May | 12% |
| Las Vegas | October | November | 12% |
| Santa Barbara | August | October | 11% |
| Chicago | September | August | 10% |
| Miami | April | May | 10% |
| Asheville | May | April | 9% |
| St. Augustine | April | February | 9% |
| Austin | April | May | 8% |
Every destination has a card with its chart, weather months and a note on what you give up in the cheaper month: Same Wedding, Big Discount.
How we did this.
DemandWedding-venue searches on Engine for weddings dated in 2026, by destination and by the month of the wedding (not the month of the search), 8,465 in total across the 20 destinations. The national curve on this page is those 20 pooled, so it leans toward popular destinations rather than hometown weddings.
RatesThe average nightly rate hotels in each destination showed in Engine searches that month. It is the going rate for the city, not a wedding-specific rate and not Engine's negotiated rate.
The 20 destinationsTaken from wedding-planning lists like The Knot's best U.S. destination wedding spots, narrowed to places with enough search and rate data. Aspen and Banff were too thin and were swapped for close substitutes.
The cheaper monthThe cheapest month within two or three months of the peak that scores at least 83% of the destination's best weather month, on a 0 to 100 score from temperature, humidity and storm or fire season. A few picks are pushed further out to avoid Atlantic hurricane season.